Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Urinary incontinence among Muslim women in Israel: risk factors and help-seeking behavior

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Urogynecology Journal Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction and hypothesis

The prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) varies among women in different cultures. Muslim women with UI have complex issues related to the need for cleaning (ablution) before prayer. The aim was to assess the prevalence of UI, factors associated with it, its effect on quality of life, and help-seeking behavior among Muslim women.

Methods

This was a cross-sectional study. Self-administered questionnaires completed by women 18–75 years of age who visited the primary care clinic between 21 June 2015 and 9 October 2015 and additional data collected from their medical records.

Results

A total of 492 women (mean age 31.8 ± 9.5 years) participated in the study. Of these, 43% suffered from UI and 19% from severe to very severe UI. The mean score for interference in daily life (0–10) was 6.3 ± 3.7. Sixty percent of women with UI had stress incontinence, 23% urge incontinence, and 9% mixed incontinence. Only 10% had consulted previously with their physician regarding UI. Increased BMI (OR = 1.048, 95% CI 1.009–1.089) and polygamy (OR = 1.943, 95% CI 1.007–3.749) were associated with severe to very severe UI. Age, parity, and more severe degrees of UI were associated with help-seeking behavior (OR = 1.065 95% CI 1.008–1.125, OR = 0.763 95% CI 0.624–0.934, OR = 4.073 95% CI 1.410–11.765 respectively).

Conclusions

Urinary incontinence is very common among Muslim women in primary care in southern Israel and significantly impairs their quality of life. Only a small percentage consults with their physician.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Goroll HA, Mulley AG. Primary care medicine: office evaluation and management of the adult patient. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health; 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Charalambous S, Trantafyldis A. Impact of urinary incontinence on quality of life. Pelviperineology. 2009;28:51–3.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Rogers RG. Clinical practice. Urinary stress incontinence in women. N Engl J Med. 2008;358:1029–36.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Abrams P, Cardozo LJ, Khouri S, et al. (2013) Incontinence. 5th edition ed. Bristol: ICUD-EAU.

  5. Markland AD, Richter HE, Fwu CW, et al. Prevalence and trends of urinary incontinence in adults in the United States, 2001 to 2008. J Urol. 2011;186:589–93.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Cooper J, Annappa M, Quigley A, et al. Prevalence of female urinary incontinence and its impact on quality of life in a cluster population in the United Kingdom (UK): a community survey. Prim Health Care Res Dev. 2015;16:377–82.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Bedretdinova D, Fritel X, Panjo H, et al. Prevalence of female urinary incontinence in the general population according to different definitions and study designs. Eur Urol. 2016;69:256–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Garcia-Perez H, Harlow SD, Sampselle CM, et al. Measuring urinary incontinence in a population of women in northern Mexico: prevalence and severity. Int Urogynecol J. 2013;24:847–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Rebassa M, Taltavull JM, Gutierrez C, et al. Urinary incontinence in Mallorcan women: prevalence and quality of life. Actas Urol Esp. 2013;37:354–61.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Gozukara F, Koruk I, Kara B. Urinary incontinence among women registered with a family health center in the southeastern Anatolia region and the factors affecting its prevalence. Turk J Med Sci. 2015;45:931–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Altaweel W, Alharbi M. Urinary incontinence: prevalence, risk factors, and impact on health related quality of life in Saudi women. Neurourol Urodyn. 2012;31:642–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Jokhio AH, Rizvi RM, Rizvi J, et al. Urinary incontinence in women in rural Pakistan: prevalence, severity, associated factors and impact on life. BJOG. 2013;120:180–66.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Sange C, Thomas L, Lyons C, et al. Urinary incontinence in Muslim women. Nurs Times. 2008;104:49–52.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Wilkinson K. Pakistan women's perceptions and experiences of incontinence. Nurs Stand. 2008;16:33–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Van den Muijsenbergh ME, Largo-Janssen TA. Urinary incontinence in Moroccan and Turkish women: a qualitative study on impact and preferences for treatment. Br J Gen Pract. 2006;56:945–9.

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Ben-Rabi D, Amiel S, Nijim F, et al. Bedouin children in the Negev: characteristics, needs, and patterns of service use. Jerusalem: Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute. Research Report Publication; 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Hashim H, Avery K, Mourad MS, et al. The Arabic ICIQ-UI SF: an alternative language version of the English ICIQ-UI SF. Neurourol Urodyn. 2006;25:277–82.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Al-Shaikh G, Al-Badr A, Al Maarik A, et al. Reliability of Arabic ICIQ-UI short form in Saudi Arabia. Urol Ann. 2013;5:34–8.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Klovning A, Avery K, Sandvik H, et al. Comparison of two questionnaires for assessing the severity of urinary incontinence: the ICIQ-UI SF versus the incontinence severity index. Neurourol Urodyn. 2009;28:411–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Bar-Yakov M, Cohen A. New statistical activities and publications in Israel: population and demographics. Jerusalem: Israel Central Bureau of Statistics; 2010.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Treister-Goltzman Y, Peleg R. Literature review of type 2 diabetes mellitus among minority Muslim populations in Israel. World J Diabetes. 2015;6:192–9.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Zwickel J, Barak N. Health and welfare of Bedouin women in the Negev [Hebrew]. Beer-Sheva: Center for Regional Development, Center for the Study and Promotion of Women's Health, Center for Bedouin Studies and Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Treister-Goltzman Y, Peleg R. Health and morbidity among Bedouin women in southern Israel: a descriptive literature review of the past two decades. J Community Health. 2014;39:819–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Rios AA, Cardoso JR, Rodrigues MA, et al. The help-seeking by women with urinary incontinence in Brazil. Int Urogynecol J. 2011;22:879–84.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. El-Azab AS, Shaaban OM. Measuring the barriers against seeking consultation for urinary incontinence among Middle Eastern women. BMC Womens Health. 2010;10:3.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Perera J, Kirthinanda DS, Wijeratne S, et al. Descriptive cross sectional study on prevalence, perceptions, predisposing factors and health seeking behaviour of women with stress urinary incontinence. BMC Womens Health. 2014;14:78.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Cetinel B, Demirkesen O, Tarcan T, et al. Hidden female urinary incontinence in urology and obstetrics and gynecology outpatient clinics in Turkey: what are the determinants of bothersome urinary incontinence and help-seeking behavior? Int Urogynecol J Pelvic Floor Dysfunct. 2007;18:659–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Ng SF, Lok MK, Pang SM, et al. Stress urinary incontinence in younger women in primary care: prevalence and opportunistic intervention. J Women's Health (Larchmt). 2014;23:65–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Amaral MO, Coutinho EC, Nelas PA, et al. Risk factors associated with urinary incontinence in Portugal and the quality of life of affected women. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2015;131:82–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Kilic M. Incidence and risk factors of urinary incontinence in women visiting family health centers. Springerplus. 2016;5:1331.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Saadia Z. Effect of age, educational status, parity and BMI on development of urinary incontinence—a cross sectional study in Saudi population. Mater Sociomed. 2015;27:251–4.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Khullar V, Sexton CC, Thompson CL, et al. The relationship between BMI and urinary incontinence subgroups: results from EpiLUTS. Neurourol Urodyn. 2014;33:392–29.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Kwon JG, Park KS, Park JH, et al. [Guidelines for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome]. Korean J Gastroenterol. Taehan Sohwagi Hakhoe chi. 2011;57:82–99.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clalit Health Services, Southern District and the Department of Family Medicine and Siaal Research Center for Family Practice and Primary Care, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, POB 653, 84105, Beer-Sheva, Israel

    Yulia Treister-Goltzman & Roni Peleg

Authors
  1. Yulia Treister-Goltzman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Roni Peleg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yulia Treister-Goltzman.

Ethics declarations

Financial disclaimer

This research was funded by a grant from the Israel Association of Family Physicians: 15,000 NIS.

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Treister-Goltzman, Y., Peleg, R. Urinary incontinence among Muslim women in Israel: risk factors and help-seeking behavior. Int Urogynecol J 29, 539–546 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-017-3438-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-017-3438-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation