Urinary incontinence and quality of life of women living in nursing homes in the M editerranean region of T urkey

• Published in: Psychogeriatrics Vol. 17; no. 6; pp. 446 - 452
• Main Authors: Göral Türkcü, Sinem, Kukulu, Kamile
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-11-2017
• ISSN: 1346-3500; 1479-8301
• DOI: 10.1111/psyg.12271

Background
This study was conducted to determine the effect of urinary incontinence (
UI
) on the quality of life of women living in nursing homes in the
M
editerranean region of
T
urkey.
Methods
The study was conducted on 95 women living in nursing homes in the
M
editerranean region. Data were collected from a questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics, the
U
rinary
I
ncontinence
Q
uality of
L
ife
S
cale, the
I
ndex of
A
ctivities of
D
aily
L
iving, and the
I
nternational
C
onsultation on
I
ncontinence
Q
uestionnaire
S
hort
F
orm.
Results
The quality of life of women who did not consider
UI
a health problem was significantly higher than that of those who considered otherwise. Mixed
UI
was the most common
UI
type among the women living in nursing homes, with a rate of 31.7%. According to the overall mean scores on the
U
rinary
I
ncontinence
Q
uality of
L
ife
S
cale, quality of life was the most affected among women who had nocturnal incontinence. Quality of life was affected from most to least by the mixed type, stress type, and urge type of incontinence.
Conclusion
Early diagnosis and treatment of
UI
could be improved if health professionals, who have a unique role in changing the perception of society, offered training to women experiencing incontinence. Identifying this problem and determining and preventing the risk factors are important for enhancing women's quality of life.