Knowledge and prevalence of urinary incontinence among women attending a tertiary care hospital in UAE: Cross sectional study

Abstract

Background: Many physiological and psychological changes happens to women during the time of urinary incontinence. The symptoms differ according to the individual, culture and ethnicity. As the women pass through various stages of urinary incontinence, the prevalence of symptoms also varies. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of urinary incontinence health problems among the women above 45 years old and to identify the prevalence of symptoms in urinary incontinence life. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a private hospital in UAE, UAE among women aged 45 years and above with a validated self-administered questionnaire. Ethics approval was obtained before the study. Data were coded, entered, and analyzed using SPSS version 24. Chi-square tests and descriptive statistics like frequency tables and crosstabs were used. Results: The mean age of women participants was 50.7 years. The results showed that 50.2% of the women had moderate knowledge about urinary incontinence health problems, while 37% and 12.8% had excellent and poor knowledge, respectively. Prevalence of urinary incontinence symptoms among women were hot flushes (55.1%), dry skin (54.7%), muscle pain (54.5%), joint pain (52.9%), and weight gain (51%). Women suffered from at least one of the urinary incontinence symptoms. Hot flushes, dry skin, muscle pain, and weight gain were significantly associated with the menopausal status (p<0.05). Conclusions: Urinary incontinence symptoms hot flushes, dry skin, and muscle pain were significantly associated with a perimenopausal or urinary incontinence state. Women must be made aware of these symptoms and their causes and treatments as well.