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Health-related quality of life in parous women with pelvic organ prolapse and/or urinary incontinence in Bangladesh

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Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

We assessed the association of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and urinary incontinence (UI), alone and in combination (POP-UI), and related factors with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in parous women in Bangladesh.

Methods

The study included 357 parous women: 107 with POP alone, 124 with POP-UI, and 126 with UI alone. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics, comorbidities, symptom duration, UI severity and type, POP stage, and the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12).

Results

The median scores of the SF-12 Physical and Mental Component Summary (PCS and MCS) were 29.1 and 35.7 for POP alone, 28.0 and 35.1 for POP-UI, and 33.9 and 42.0 for UI alone, and there were significant differences among the three groups (p < 0.001). Participants with mixed UI had lower scores on both components than those with stress or urgency UI. UI severity was associated with lower MCS scores, but not with POP stage. Multiple regression analysis showed that the coexistence of POP and UI was associated with significantly worse PCS scores than UI or POP alone and worse MCS scores than UI alone. Age ≥ 46 years was associated with lower PCS scores, and not completing primary school was associated with lower MCS scores.

Conclusion

POP and UI were associated with HRQOL, especially in those who had POP-UI, were older, and had a low educational level, mixed UI, and severe UI. Healthcare providers should understand the significance of these illnesses and address them to improve women’s HRQOL.

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Abbreviations

POP:

pelvic organ prolapse

UI:

urinary incontinence

POP-UI:

pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence

HRQOL:

health-related quality of life

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Acknowledgments

We thank the community health workers, clinic staff, and BRAC health department staff for their logistic support and all the women who participated in the study.

Funding

This work was supported in part by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C), KAKENHI, Japan (no. 25460807).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community-based Rehabilitation Sciences, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki-shi, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan

    Atsuko Imoto & Sumihisa Honda

  2. School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University, 1-12-4 Sakamoto, Nagasaki-shi, Nagasaki, 852-8523, Japan

    Atsuko Imoto

  3. BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, 5th Floor (Level-6), icddr,b Building, 68 Shahid Tajuddin Ahmed Sharani, Mohakhali, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh

    Malabika Sarker & Rahima Akter

  4. Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 130/3, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany

    Malabika Sarker

  5. Department of International Cooperation and Multicultural Studies, Tsuda University, 2-1-1 Tsuda-machi, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo, 187-0025, Japan

    Akiko Matsuyama

Authors
  1. Atsuko Imoto
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  2. Malabika Sarker
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  3. Rahima Akter
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Contributions

• Imoto: Protocol/project development, data collection or management, data analysis, manuscript writing/editing.

• Sarker: Protocol/project development, data collection or management, manuscript editing.

• Akter: Protocol/project development, data collection or management, data analysis.

• Matsuyama: Protocol/project development, data collection or management, manuscript editing.

• Honda: Protocol/project development, data analysis, manuscript editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Atsuko Imoto.

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Conference Presentations

The 83rd Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of Health and Human Ecology, Gunma, in Japan, November 23, 2018.

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Imoto, A., Sarker, M., Akter, R. et al. Health-related quality of life in parous women with pelvic organ prolapse and/or urinary incontinence in Bangladesh. Int Urogynecol J 32, 887–895 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-020-04410-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-020-04410-5

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