Prevalence of Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women from a Rural Community in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

Introduction: Stress urinary incontinence affects a significant number of women and causes great loss of Quality of Life (QoL). Its prevalence varies from 15 to 41.5%. Objective: To assess the prevalence of Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) in women living in a rural community in Amapá, the main risk factors and quality of life assessment using a standardized questionnaire. Methodology: A screening questionnaire was applied to 235 women residing in Igarapé da Fortaleza, in the city of Macapá, in 2015. Patients with SUI complaints were submitted to the King’s Health Questionnaire (KHQ) questionnaire. For statistical processing, BioEstat software version 5.3 was used. Results: The prevalence of SUI was 28.9% (68 women). A significant age difference was found between women with SUI (44.2) and without SUI (37.9 ± 12.5 years). Childbirth, birth interval, smoking and Body Mass Index (BMI) showed to be statistically significant differences between groups. Variables such as number of deliveries, birth weight, menopause, education and race did not express a real difference. Conclusion: The prevalence of SUI was 28.9%. There was a significant difference in the group with SUI in terms of age, smoking, parity, interval between births and BMI. In assessing QoL in patients with SUI using KHQ, we found the worst results in general health perception, impact of incontinence, personal relationships, sleep/mood and severity of symptoms.