Levels of comfort and ease among patients suffering from urinary incontinence

Abstract

AbstractUrinary incontinence is a common phenomenon among women, which harms social ties and is perceived as embarrassing and incurable. Despite its prevalence, there are few studies that have examined how those affected by this syndrome feel. The goal of this study was to examine the personal characteristics and levels of comfort among women suffering from urinary incontinence. The study included 50 women who had been diagnosed as suffering from urinary incontinence. The participants answered the Urinary Incontinence and Frequency Comfort Questionnaire, which examines levels of physical, mental, social and environmental comfort. α reliability has been found to be high in previous studies (α= 0·82). Our findings indicated that urinary incontinence occurred among the patients from several times a day to several times a week caused by sneezing, coughing and laughing. Most participants delayed treatment for up to 3 years. The general level of comfort was identified as medium low (SD = 0·04, M= 2·95) from a possible range of 1–6. Particularly low levels of comfort were recorded on items such as ‘I feel clean and fresh,’‘finding a toilet in close proximity is a worrisome issue when I exit the house’ and ‘I fear having sex due to the urinary incontinence problem’. Identifying patients’ needs and understanding their emotions are a useful basis for nursing intervention in promoting quality of life.