Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Fellowship of Female Pelvic Floor Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
PLoS One. 2023 Aug 4;18(8):e0289785. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289785. eCollection 2023.
Urinary incontinence has an undeniable impact on the quality of life of affected women; however, talking about incontinence is not comfortable for many women, and they often hide it and do not seek treatment. Predictors affecting women's decisions to seek treatment in communities can be different. This study was designed to identify predictors of help-seeking behaviors among Iranian women with urinary incontinence.
This cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted on 199 women with urinary incontinence who met the inclusion criteria by convenience sampling from the beginning of 2020 to the middle of 2021. The Incontinence Severity Index, Bradley's Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis, Medical Embarrassment Questionnaires, Brief-Illness Perception Questionnaire, Incontinence Quality of Life Questionnaire, Barrier to Incontinence Care Seeking Questionnaire, Medical Help Seeking Scale, and Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey were all self-administered data collection tools used in this study. Multiple linear regression was used to investigate the relationship and prediction of help-seeking behaviors by other variables. To analyze the data, SPSS software version 20 was used.
The variables of shame, barriers to care, social support, quality of life, and age were found to be predictors of help-seeking behavior in the research population of women with urinary incontinence. Help-seeking had a direct relationship with quality of life and an inverse relationship with other factors. Among these factors, shame has the greatest impact (P = 0/001, β = - 0/37).
The extracted predictors, especially the variable of "shame" as the most important negative factor related to the treatment decisions of women with urinary incontinence, will help to health service providers to take into account these factors in the regular service provision programs that promote women's health, which are effective in facilitating the help-seeking of sufferers and correct guidance towards treatment or rehabilitation.
尿失禁对受影响女性的生活质量有不可否认的影响；然而，许多女性谈到失禁时会感到不舒服，她们常常隐瞒这种情况，不去寻求治疗。影响社区中女性治疗决策的预测因素可能有所不同。本研究旨在确定伊朗尿失禁女性寻求治疗的行为预测因素。
本横断面分析性研究于 2020 年初至 2021 年年中，通过方便抽样，对 199 名符合纳入标准的尿失禁女性进行了研究。采用失禁严重程度指数、布拉德利尿失禁诊断问卷、医疗尴尬问卷、简要疾病感知问卷、尿失禁生活质量问卷、失禁护理寻求障碍问卷、医疗求助量表和医疗结果研究社会支持调查，这些都是本研究中使用的自我管理数据收集工具。多元线性回归用于研究其他变量与求助行为的关系和预测。使用 SPSS 软件版本 20 分析数据。
发现羞耻感、护理障碍、社会支持、生活质量和年龄等变量是尿失禁女性研究人群寻求帮助行为的预测因素。求助行为与生活质量呈直接关系，与其他因素呈反比。在这些因素中，羞耻感的影响最大（P=0.001，β=-0.37）。
提取的预测因素，特别是“羞耻感”这一与尿失禁女性治疗决策最相关的负面因素，将有助于卫生服务提供者在促进妇女健康的常规服务提供计划中考虑到这些因素，这将有助于促进患者的求助，并对治疗或康复提供正确指导。
