Abstract

FERNANDES, Susana et al. Quality of life in women with Urinary Incontinence. Rev. Enf. Ref. [online]. 2015, vol.serIV, n.5, pp.93-99. ISSN 0874-0283.  https://doi.org/10.12707/RIV14042.

Background: Urinary Incontinence (UI) impacts the Quality of Life (QoL) of women, causing physiological, psychological, and socio-economic limitations. Objectives: To assess the perception of QoL of women with UI; to analyse the influence of the type of UI on QoL; to analyse the influence of socio-demographic, obstetric, and gynaecological variables on QoL. Methodology: A cross-sectional analytic study was conducted. Data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of socio-demographic, obstetric, and gynaecological variables, and the King's Health Questionnaire. The sample was composed of 305 women from the central region of Portugal, with a mean age of 50.01±10.37 years. Results: Overall, women showed moderate QoL. In most dimensions, QoL is influenced by age; nationality; current employment status; area of residence; body mass index; number of children; pelvic lesions during delivery; child's weight at birth; years of urine loss; stress incontinence; urge incontinence. Women with urinary stress incontinence have a worse QoL. Conclusion: UI moderately affects the QoL of women.

Keywords : urinary incontinence; women; quality of life.

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