Revista de Enfermagem e Cuidados

The Efficiency of a Behavioral Intervention Program for Urinary Incontinence in Elderly Females

Abstract

Fariba Ghodsbin, Marzeiah Kargar, Iran Jahanbin and Mohammad Mahdi Sagheb

Background: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a women’s health problem that imposes major problems for personal quality of life.

Objective: The aim is to determine the effect of a Behavioral Intervention Program on the quality of life of the elderly females with urinary incontinence, who referred to Jahandidegan center in Shiraz-Iran, 2011.

Material and methods: The participants consisted of 60 women aged 60-74 years with QUID questionnaire’s scores for different types of incontinence (stress score ≥ 4, urge score ≥ 6 and mix score ≥ 10). QUID questionnaire was used for patients with urinary incontinence. It also gave us the possibility to determine the types of urinary incontinence. For matching, we placed an equal numbers of each type of urinary incontinence in each group. Ten subjects from each type were placed in two groups of 30 each (intervention and control groups). Then, incontinence quality of life questionnaire (I-QOL) was used to estimate the impact of incontinence on the participants’ quality of life.

After the completion of a Behavioral Intervention Program and 2 months later, I-QOL questionnaire was completed by the intervention and control groups. Descriptive statistics, paired t-test and repeated measurement were used to analyze the data.

Results: Overall, the program was effective in relieving symptoms by improving quality of life related to urinary incontinence, and this effect continued after a 2 months period.

Conclusion: Behavioral therapy was an empowerment mechanism for incontinent women in improving their quality of life. Thus, it is suggested that the health care providers pay more attention to this issue and train women regarding the prevention of urinary incontinence.