An assessment of relationship between urinary incontinence, and quality of life and psychosocial functioning in elderly women from southeastern Poland

Introduction
The rapid aging of the human population is an increasing challenge to public health. With aging of population, the number of people functionally and cognitively dependent increases. The incidence of lower urinary tract symptoms and urinary incontinence increases, too.

Material and methods
The study included 1032 randomly selected women aged 60–80 years living in south-eastern Poland (the Podkarpackie region). For comparative analysis, we divided this population into two subgroups: I - women with a problem recognized by the doctor considering urinary incontinence (UI) and II - clinical control group (women without urinary incontinence, WP). The WHODAS 2.0 questionnaire was used to assess the disability and functioning and WHOQOL-bref to assess the quality of life.

Results
In the studied population of women aged 60-80 years, 14.53% reported urinary incontinence. The global disability level was higher in the UI group in comparison to WP group (0<0.001). The intensity of disability was highest in domains of activities of daily life, mobility and social participation. In comparison to women without urinary incontinence, the UI group women experienced larger effect of their dysfunction on all domains of quality of life, in particular the psychical health, psychological health and environment (p<0.001)

Conclusions
The study proves that urinary incontinence has a significant effect on lowering the quality of life and psychosocial functioning of elderly women living in south-eastern Poland. The results point to those domains of functioning which require greatest support. These conclusions communicate a significant message for those who develop rehabilitation programmes for elderly patients with urinary incontinence.