title: Incontinence in a manufacturing setting: women's perceptions and responses.
abstract: The true prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) and its impact on the quality of life in working women are not well established. Many women do not report UI to a health care provider because they mistakenly believe UI is a natural part of aging. This situation exists despite the dissemination of a national guideline for UI in adults. The aims of this study were to (1) explore what incontinent women in a manufacturing setting name or identify as the proposed cause of urinary leakage (2) analyze an association between identifying a UI cause and reporting it to a health care provider and (3) determine how many women were aware of the AHCPR Guideline. The results indicate that the majority of incontinent women (62%) have not reported this to a health care provider. Most women attributed urinary leakage to parity and waiting too long to empty the bladder. There was no relationship between identifying a UI cause and reporting it to a health care provider. Only 2 of the women out of 78 had heard of the AHCPR Guideline but the majority of women wanted more information about UI (85%). Mechanisms are suggested for querying women with UI and disseminating the AHCPR Guideline.
authors.affiliation: Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA.
authors.forename: V L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Kirkland
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: S T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Fitzgerald
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016270:United States Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D016387:Women's Health; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data