Urinary symptoms and incontinence in postmenopausal women and the effects on quality of life

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effects of urinary symptoms and incontinence on quality of life in postmenopausal women. The sample of the cross-sectional study consisted of 327 women aged 50-65 who visited primary healthcare centers between 16 April and 30 July 2018. The data were collected using a personal information form, the Urinary Symptom Profile Questionnaire (USP) and the Incontinence Quality of Life Scale (I-QOL). The mean age of the women participating in the study was 57.89 +/- 5.05. It was found that 50.5% of the women had a history of incontinence. While the total mean USP score of all women participating in the study was 4.94 +/- 4.81, it was 7.98 +/- 4.85 for the women with a history of incontinence. The mean total I-QOL score was 87.09 +/- 16.04 in all women and 76.95 +/- 16.93 in the women with a history of incontinence. The women with a history of incontinence were found to have a strong negative correlation between their total USP and total I-QOL scores. In this study, it was found that the quality of life of women with urinary incontinence, especially their psychosocial health, was found to be significantly affected.