Quality of life of urinary incontinent women

• Authors: Kulesza-Brończyk, B , Dobrzycka, B , Gawrychowska, J , Terlikowski, R , Terlikowski, SJ

Abstracts

EN

Introduction: Urinary incontinence in women, in reference to the International Continence Society, is defined as an involuntary, uncontrollable, unwitting leakage of urine causing significant hygienic problems as well as physical and social discomfort. Purpose: To identify the major health problems of urinary incontinent women, the estimation of life quality determined by health in the aspect of physical and psychological existence, social interaction and environment influence, and to evaluate the patient’s agility and coping abilities in everyday life. Material and methods: The study was carried out at J. Sniadecki District Hospital and Medical University of Białystok Clinical Hospital in 2012. The study included 107 urinary incontinent women, and 93 continent women formed the control group. The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) and King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) were used. Results: The evaluation of general satisfaction from the quality of life and health satisfaction carried out in the examined group shows significantly worse values as compared to the healthy group of women (p=0.02 and p=0.003, relatively). Moreover, the group of women examined as compared to controls is characterized by significantly lower average results of the subjective estimation of the quality of life in the following aspects: physical (p=0.001), psychological (p=0.03), environmental (p=0.004), and social relations (p=0.002). A significant inverse correlation between the influence of an illness on particular aspects of existence taken into account in the KHQ questionnaire and the life quality level measured by the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was demonstrated. Conclusions: Women with urinary incontinence had lower scores of life quality. Urinary incontinence among women decreases physical activity and negatively affects their psychological and emotional conditions, as well as their professional and social activity.

Keywords

EN

Quality of life; urinary incontinence; questionnaire WHOQOL-BREF; questionnaire KHQ

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Medyczny w Białymstoku
• Journal: Progress in Health Sciences
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 88-93

Contributors

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Kulesza-Brończyk, B

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Dobrzycka, B

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Gawrychowska, J

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Terlikowski, R

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Terlikowski, SJ