Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Toward Urinary Incontinence Among Physically Active Women.

Introduction and hypothesis: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a prevalent condition that can impact the quality of life of physically active women. This study aimed to evaluate knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) related to UI among women who exercise in gyms.

Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was carried out from March to July 2022, in gyms located in the city of Parnaíba, in northeastern Brazil with physically active women. For data collection, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), the International Incontinence Consultation Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF), a specific KAP-UI questionnaire and a standardized form for sociodemographic, gynecological and obstetric data were used. The Mann-Whitney test, Fisher's exact test and chi-square tests were performed to analyze differences between subgroups formed on the basis of the presence or absence of urinary incontinence.

Results: The research included 256 female participants with a median age of 33 (18-67) years, good education (≥ 12 years of studies) (97%), majority single (60%), and monthly income greater than US$ 235.51 (68%). The prevalence of UI was 43% (n = 110) with a moderate impact on quality of life. Among the participants, 51.8% had adequate knowledge and 98.7% demonstrated positive attitudes toward UI. However, only 29.5% adopted treatment practices, while preventive practices were carried out by only 16.4%. Factors significantly associated with inadequate knowledge included lower levels of education (p = 0.030), single marital status (p = 0.031), monthly income below US$235.51 (p = 0.019), and bodybuilding as the main physical activity (p = 0.039). Conversely, women who were highly physically active were more likely to have adequate knowledge. Significant associations were found between adequate knowledge and preventive and therapeutic practices (p = 0.003), as well as between inadequate knowledge and inadequate practices.

Conclusions: Although only half of the participants had adequate knowledge about UI, the majority demonstrated a positive attitude toward the health problem. However, preventive practices were low among women without UI, as was the search for treatment among those with UI. Factors such as age, education, marital status, income, type and level of physical activity were linked to knowledge and preventive and treatment practices. Adequate knowledge was associated with effective preventive and therapeutic practices for IU by physically active women.