Yu Jung Eun, Kim Jung Yoon
General Graduate School, Department of Game and Interactive Media, Gachon University, Seongnam, Korea.
Department of Game Media, College of IT Convergence, Gachon University, Seongnam, Korea.
Int Neurourol J. 2024 Nov;28(Suppl 2):S97-105. doi: 10.5213/Inj.2448396.198. Epub 2024 Nov 30.
This study aimed to provide foundational data to enhance integrated interventions by gaining an in-depth understanding of the perceptions of patients experiencing both mental illness and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), which carry a high risk of comorbidity and potential mutual exacerbation.
Data were collected from a large online mental health community in South Korea, active among individuals with mental illness and their families (as of October 21, 2024: 113,060 members and 368,352 posts). Posts containing the keywords 'pee' or 'urine' (a total of 986 posts) were analyzed including their titles, content, and categories. Analyses included word cloud, latent Dirichlet allocation topic modeling, category frequency analysis, and qualitative analysis.
The findings indicate that among individuals with mental illness, LUTS are perceived as side effects of psychiatric medications and regarded as inevitable. Many patients attempted self-regulation or discontinuation of medication instead of seeking urological treatment, but these attempts often led to failure. The study revealed that participants used the community to explore the relationship between LUTS and mental illness. LUTS had negative impacts on family and social life, and urinary incontinence exacerbated emotional distress such as self-blame and despair.
Patients with mental illness experiencing LUTS often engage in self-regulation or discontinuation of medication. It underscores the need for accurate information and warnings about risks. As these patients endure discomfort and frustration in daily life, symptom deterioration is likely and necessitates proactive urological intervention to improve their quality of life. This study enhances understanding of the impact of co-occurring mental illness and LUTS and highlights the need for proper information and guidance. However, it has limitations including reliance on self-reported data and limited sample representativeness. Future research can address these issues by linking medical diagnoses with objective data and expanding the sample size.
本研究旨在通过深入了解同时患有精神疾病和下尿路症状（LUTS）的患者的认知，为加强综合干预提供基础数据，这两种疾病合并存在的风险很高，且可能相互加剧。
数据收集自韩国一个大型在线心理健康社区，该社区在患有精神疾病的个体及其家人中很活跃（截至2024年10月21日：113,060名成员和368,352篇帖子）。分析了包含关键词“小便”或“尿液”的帖子（共986篇），包括其标题、内容和类别。分析包括词云、潜在狄利克雷分配主题建模、类别频率分析和定性分析。
研究结果表明，在患有精神疾病的个体中，LUTS被视为精神科药物的副作用且被认为不可避免。许多患者尝试自我调节或停药而非寻求泌尿科治疗，但这些尝试往往以失败告终。研究显示，参与者利用该社区探索LUTS与精神疾病之间的关系。LUTS对家庭和社会生活有负面影响，尿失禁加剧了自责和绝望等情绪困扰。
患有精神疾病且伴有LUTS的患者常进行自我调节或停药。这凸显了提供准确的风险信息和警告的必要性。由于这些患者在日常生活中忍受不适和挫折，症状恶化很可能发生，因此需要积极的泌尿科干预以改善他们的生活质量。本研究增进了对精神疾病和LUTS共病影响的理解，并强调了适当信息和指导的必要性。然而，它存在局限性，包括依赖自我报告数据和样本代表性有限。未来的研究可以通过将医学诊断与客观数据相联系并扩大样本量来解决这些问题。
