Teunissen Doreth, Lagro-Janssen Toine
Department of General Practice and Social Medicine, Nijmegen University, The Netherlands.
Scand J Prim Health Care. 2004 Dec;22(4):209-16. doi: 10.1080/02813430410006666.
To assess sex differences in disorder- and patient-specific factors influencing help-seeking behaviour by independently living elderly people with urinary incontinence.
Qualitative and quantitative analyses of the collected data.
Patients from nine family practices involved in the Nijmegen Monitoring Project.
Independently living elderly aged 60 or over.
The study population consisted of participants in a study on the prevalence of incontinence among elderly people. Independently living elderly people aged 60 or over from nine family practices with uncomplicated urinary incontinence were interviewed at home using a disorder-specific questionnaire and open-ended questions.
In total, 56 men and 314 women were interviewed. Half of them had sought help from a general practitioner. Men sought help from their GP when they had less severe incontinence than women. Help-seeking behaviour in women was related to the duration of symptoms (odds ratio 3.66, 95% CI 1.44-9.39), the presence of incontinence-related symptoms such as constant feeling of vaginal pressure and pain in the lower abdomen (odds ratio 2.69, 95% CI 1.52-4.76) and the severity of incontinence (odds ratio 1.69, 95% CI 0.99-2.88). In men help-seeking was related to the distress experienced in daily life (odds ratio 7.10, 95% CI 1.15-43.91). Most men and women who did not seek help consider their incontinence as not being serious enough, or they had inappropriate beliefs such as that "incontinence is age-related" and "there is nothing that can be done about incontinence".
Help-seeking in women is determined by the duration of the symptoms, the presence of concomitant complaints and the severity of incontinence. In men help-seeking behaviour is mostly related to the distress experienced in daily life. In men and women the most important reasons for not seeking help are that they consider the incontinence not serious enough and that they believe that there are no treatment options available.
评估影响独立生活的老年尿失禁患者寻求帮助行为的疾病及患者特定因素中的性别差异。
对收集的数据进行定性和定量分析。
参与奈梅亨监测项目的9个家庭诊所的患者。
60岁及以上独立生活的老年人。
研究人群包括一项关于老年人尿失禁患病率研究的参与者。对来自9个家庭诊所、患有单纯性尿失禁的60岁及以上独立生活的老年人在家中使用特定疾病问卷和开放式问题进行访谈。
共访谈了56名男性和314名女性。其中一半人曾向全科医生寻求帮助。男性在尿失禁程度比女性轻时就会向全科医生寻求帮助。女性的求助行为与症状持续时间（比值比3.66，95%可信区间1.44 - 9.39）、存在与尿失禁相关的症状如持续的阴道压迫感和下腹部疼痛（比值比2.69，95%可信区间1.52 - 4.76）以及尿失禁的严重程度（比值比1.69，95%可信区间0.99 - 2.88）有关。男性的求助行为与日常生活中经历的困扰有关（比值比7.10，95%可信区间1.15 - 43.91）。大多数未寻求帮助的男性和女性认为他们的尿失禁不够严重，或者他们有不恰当的观念，如“尿失禁与年龄有关”和“对尿失禁无能为力”。
女性的求助行为取决于症状持续时间、伴随症状的存在以及尿失禁的严重程度。男性的求助行为主要与日常生活中经历的困扰有关。男性和女性不寻求帮助的最重要原因是他们认为尿失禁不够严重，并且认为没有可用的治疗选择。
