Abstract
Introduction and hypothesis
Limited data exist on women’s experience with pelvic organ prolapse (POP) symptoms. We aimed to describe factors that prevent disease understanding among Spanish-speaking and English-speaking women.
Methods
Women with POP were recruited from female urology and urogynecology clinics in Los Angeles, California, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Eight focus groups were conducted, four in Spanish and four in English. Topics addressed patients’ emotional responses when noticing their prolapse, how they sought support, what verbal and written information was given, and their overall feelings of the process. Additionally, patients were asked about their experience with their treating physician. All interview transcripts were analyzed using grounded theory qualitative methods.
Results
Qualitative analysis yielded two preliminary themes. First, women had misconceptions about what POP is as well as its causes and treatments. Second, there was a great deal of miscommunication between patient and physician which led to decreased understanding about the diagnosis and treatment options. This included the fact that women were often overwhelmed with information which they did not understand. The concept emerged that there is a strong need for better methods to achieve disease and treatment understanding for women with POP.
Conclusions
Our findings emphasize that women with POP have considerable misconceptions about their disease. In addition, there is miscommunication during the patient–physician interaction that leads to further confusion among Spanish-speaking and English-speaking women. Spending more time explaining the diagnosis of POP, rather than focusing solely on treatment options, may reduce miscommunication and increase patient understanding.
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Funding sources
Funded by a National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Act Award (1 K23DK080227, J.T.A.) and an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRAO) Supplement (5K23DK080227, J.T.A.), Supported by the National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences through grant number UL 1-RR031977
Conflicts of interest
C.K. Wieslander: none.
A. Alas: investigator for Pfizer.
C.G. Dunivan: member of AUGS educational committee.
C. Sevilla: none.
S. Cichowski: none.
S. Maliski: none.
K. Eilber: Speaker’s Bureau for Astellas, investigator for Boston Scientific and American Medical Systems, consultant for American Medical Systems.
R.G. Rogers: Editor for the International Urogynecology Journal, Special Editor for Obstetrics & Gynecology, receiving royalties from Up to Date and textbook, member of ACOG Executive Board, DSMB chair for the TRANSFORM trial, receiving NIH funding.
J.T. Anger: none.
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Wieslander, C.K., Alas, A., Dunivan, G.C. et al. Misconceptions and miscommunication among Spanish-speaking and English-speaking women with pelvic organ prolapse. Int Urogynecol J 26, 597–604 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-014-2562-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-014-2562-z