Burzynski B, Gibala P, Soltysiak-Gibala Z, Jurys T, Przymuszala P, Rzymski P, Stojko R. How Urinary Incontinence Affects Sexual Activity in Polish Women: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2022;
19:ijerph192113818. [PMID:
36360700 PMCID:
PMC9657329 DOI:
10.3390/ijerph192113818]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2022] [Revised: 10/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/21/2022] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Urinary incontinence (UI) in women can cause a number of sexual dysfunctions and reduce their quality of life. Sexual health is essential to the self-esteem, emotional state, and overall quality of life. We aimed to assess the quality of sexual life of women with UI. The study included a group of 145 sexually active women diagnosed with UI. The research was conducted using the diagnostic survey method with authorial and validated questionnaires. As many as 49.1% of the respondents reported a deterioration of sexual relations in comparison with the time before the onset of UI symptoms. According to the FSDS-R results, 83.45% of respondents were dissatisfied with their sex life. The higher the result obtained by respondents in the FSDS-R scale, the lower was their quality of life in the IIQ-7 scale (p ≤ 0.002, R = 0.53). The greatest impact was observed in the domains of emotional health and physical activity. The more incontinence symptoms reported by the respondent in the UDI-6 scale, the worse was her sexual satisfaction in the FSDS-R (p = 0.003, R = 0.39). UI in women contributes to the development of sexual dysfunctions, including decreased interest in sexual life, limited intercourse, and dissatisfaction with sexual life.
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