Determination of comfort levels of women with urinary incontinence

Purpose: This descriptive study was planned to investigate the comfort levels of women with urinary incontinence. Materials and methods: The study comprised 219 women with a complaint of urinary incontinence admitted to the outpatient clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology Department of a university hospital between June – December 2015. The Sociodemographic Characteristics Questionnaire, Urinary Incontinence & Frequency Comfort Questionnaire (UIFCQ), and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form (ICIQ-SF) were used. Results: The study results demonstrated that the mean score the participants obtained from the UIFCQ was 4.20 ± 0.74 and that their comfort levels were moderate. Their mean score for the ICIQ-SF was 10.41± 4.98, and urinary incontinence adversely affected their quality of life in 74% of them. While the mean UIFCQ scores were KW = 48.673, p=0.00 for the frequency of urinary incontinence, t=2.33, p=0.02 for receiving treatment, KW = 58.267, p = 0.00 for the amount of urinary leakage, KW=26.37, p=0.00 for the educational attainment, t=7.04, p=0.03 for the number of births, the mean ICIQ-SF scores were KW = 13.74, p =0.00 for the educational attainment and t = 24.02, p=0.00 for the number of births (p <0.05). Conclusions: It was determined that the comfort level of the participants with urinary incontinence was moderate, that urinary incontinence affected the quality of life and that as their comfort level increased, so did their quality of life.