Abstract
BackgroundPelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a significant public health issue that negatively affects the Quality of Life (QOL) of women in both low and high-income countries. About 20% of women will undergo surgery for POP over their lifetime. However, there is a paucity of information on the effect of surgery on QOL especially in resource-limited settings. We therefore assessed the QOL among women with symptomatic POP living in rural southwestern Uganda and the impact of surgery on their quality of life.MethodsWe conducted a prospective cohort study among 120 women with symptomatic POP scheduled for surgery at the urogynecology unit of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital. The QOL at baseline and at 1 year after surgery in the domains of physical performance, social interaction, emotional state, sexual life, sleep quality, personal hygiene and urinary bladder function was determined using a King’s Quality of Life questionnaire. A paired t-test was used to compare the difference in mean scores at baseline and at 1-year post-surgery.ResultsOf the 120 participants that were enrolled at baseline, 117(98%) completed the follow-up period of 1 year. The baseline QOL was poor. The domains with the poorest QOL were physical, social, sexual, emotional and sleep quality. The mean QOL scores in all the domains and the overall QOL significantly improved 1 year after surgery (p < 0.001). The overall QOL improved by 38.9% after surgery (p < 0.001).ConclusionsThe QOL was poor among women with symptomatic POP and surgery improved the QOL in all the domains of life. We recommend that surgery as an option for treatment of symptomatic POP should be scaled up to improve on the QOL of these women.
Highlights
Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a significant public health issue that negatively affects the Quality of Life (QOL) of women in both low and high-income countries
Women with POP frequently report limitations to their sexual life such as: lack of sexual desire, arousal, orgasm, and pain during intercourse which leads to loss of sexual interest with some being abandoned by their husbands [5, 7, 12,13,14]
Design and study population We conducted a prospective cohort study at the Urogynecology unit of Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH) from December 1, 2018 to December 31, 2020, among women diagnosed with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse (POP) scheduled for surgery
Summary
Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is a significant public health issue that negatively affects the Quality of Life (QOL) of women in both low and high-income countries. Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) is defined as an anatomic support defect of the pelvic viscera resulting from the long-term failure of their supporting and suspension mechanisms [1]. A number of psychological and mental health problems have been reported among women with POP including emotional disturbances, depression, loss of self-esteem, lack of sleep, rejection and isolation [15,16,17,18]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
