PURPOSE: to analyze the impact of urinary incontinence on women's quality of life, submitted or not to surgical treatment. METHODS: sixty women with urinary incontinence during stress were interviewed and divided into two groups classified as: S-CIR group, including 30 women not yet submitted to specific surgical treatment for urinary incontinence, and C-CIR group, including 30 women who had already undergone surgery. The scores obtained after the addition of values attributed to each question of the questionnaires were compared between the two groups. The number of patients who showed any impairment on quality of life due to specific symptoms of incontinence was also compared between groups. Data were analyzed by the variance test and the chi-square test, when applicable. RESULTS: symptoms, limitations and concerns related to urinary incontinence exhibited a strong negative impact on quality of life in patients from the S-CIR group. Impairment during physical exercises, domestic activities and daily working activities was the most important affected aspect in patients of the S-CIR group. Furtherimore, patients of the S-CIR group reported more fatigue, embarrassment, and excessive nervousness. Urine loss during stress followed by urgency were also significantly relevant aspects when groups were compared. CONCLUSIONS: the study allowed the identification and quantification of the derangements of quality of life due to urinary incontinence and demonstrated that these derangements either become less important or even disappear in women submitted to surgery.
Urinary Incontinence, stress; Urinary Incontinence, stress; Quality of life
