Effect of Symptom Severity on the Quality of Life in Women with Urinary Incontinence: A Comparative Study

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the effect of symptom severity on quality of life and urinary incontinence (UI) risk factors affecting quality of life in women with UI.
Methods: The study was conducted with a descriptive, cross-sectional, and comparative design. Data were collected using the “description form” and “King’s health questionnaire (KHQ)” with 160 women applying to a university hospital’s urogynecology polyclinic. The Number Cruncher Statistical System 2007 (Kaysville, Utah, USA) program was used for data analysis. The data were analyzed using numbers, percentages, Mann-Whitney U test, and linear regression analyses. P<0.05 was considered significant.
Results: It was found that 45% of women had none/low symptom severity and 55% had medium/high symptom severity. The women’s KHQ first part subscale mean score was found to be “general health condition” 41.09±20.48; “incontinence effect” 56.46±28.47; “role limitation” 41.04±33.43; “physical limitation” 46.67±33.01; “social limitation” 31.94±30.26; “personal relationship” 15.94±25.72; “emotions” 43.61±34.82; “sleep energy level” 27.71±27.97; “severity measurements” 38.46±24.56; KHQ second part (symptom severity scale) mean score was 9.56±5.97. It was found that women with medium/high symptom severity had statistically significant higher scores from all subscales of KHQ’s quality of life part than women with none/low severity (p<0.01).
Conclusion: It was concluded that incontinence in women affected quality of life at a medium level, quality of life decreased as incontinence’s symptom severity increased, and many UI risk factors affected quality of life. This study reveals that incontinence symptom severity has a negative effect on women’s quality of life.