IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v69y2009i9p1395-1401.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A "usual occurrence:" Stress incontinence among reproductive aged women in Sri Lanka

Author

Listed:
  • Hemachandra, Nilmini N.
  • Rajapaksa, Lalini C.
  • Manderson, Lenore

Abstract

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a common condition among women of all ages, often with devastating consequences, such as depression, anxiety and reduced quality of life. Researchers have largely focused on its prevalence and clinical management, particularly in highly industrialized country settings. In this article, drawing on epidemiological, clinical and qualitative research undertaken in Sri Lanka, we discuss how stress incontinence affects women's lives and how they personally manage the problem. Quantitative data derive from a community-based descriptive cross-sectional study, conducted in 2006-2007 with 1718 ever-married women, aged 15-49, of whom 9.8% reported problems of stress incontinence. Six focus group discussions, eight key informant interviews and five case studies with women with SUI were also undertaken to gain insight and depth. Although incontinence affected outdoor activities, sexual life, and sense of wellbeing, women did not consider it a health problem, rarely discussed it with others, and rarely sought treatment. Barriers to help seeking included fear of vaginal examination, shame and embarrassment, and belief that SUI was a natural consequence of aging and childbirth. Women's reluctance to seek advice on their own initiative about managing incontinence indicates the importance for health providers to pay greater attention to the condition and introduce appropriate preventive measures for women. This might include creating greater public awareness of SUI as preventable and treatable, ensuring a clinical environment conducive to discussing problems related to bodily functions.

Suggested Citation

  • Hemachandra, Nilmini N. & Rajapaksa, Lalini C. & Manderson, Lenore, 2009. "A "usual occurrence:" Stress incontinence among reproductive aged women in Sri Lanka," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1395-1401, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:69:y:2009:i:9:p:1395-1401
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(09)00548-6
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brittain, Katherine R. & Shaw, Chris, 2007. "The social consequences of living with and dealing with incontinence--A carers perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(6), pages 1274-1283, September.
    2. Bradway, Christine Wanich & Barg, Frances, 2006. "Developing a cultural model for long-term female urinary incontinence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(12), pages 3150-3161, December.
    3. Berglund, Anna-Lena & Eisemann, Martin & Lalos, Ann & Lalos, Othon, 1996. "Social adjustment and spouse relationships among women with stress incontinence before and after surgical treatment," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 42(11), pages 1537-1544, June.
    4. Sachs, Lisbeth & Tomson, Göran, 1992. "Medicines and culture--A double perspective on drug utilization in a developing country," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 307-315, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Moore, Helen & Gillespie, Alex, 2014. "The caregiving bind: Concealing the demands of informal care can undermine the caregiving identity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 102-109.
    2. Sato, Azusa, 2012. "Does socio-economic status explain use of modern and traditional health care services?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(8), pages 1450-1459.
    3. Josephine ME Gibson & Lois H Thomas & Joanna J Harrison & Caroline L Watkins & the ICONS Project Team and the ICONS Patient, Public and Carer Involvement Groups, 2018. "Stroke survivors’ and carers’ experiences of a systematic voiding programme to treat urinary incontinence after stroke," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(9-10), pages 2041-2051, May.
    4. Kotwal, Atul, 2005. "Innovation, diffusion and safety of a medical technology: a review of the literature on injection practices," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 1133-1147, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:69:y:2009:i:9:p:1395-1401. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.