Perception of nocturia and medical consulting behavior among community-dwelling women.
We investigated the perception of nocturia and possible explanatory factors for medical consultation among community-dwelling women. Between October 2004 and February 2005, women aged > or =40 years living in Matsu, Taiwan, who were identified as having nocturia in a previous epidemiological survey, were interviewed with a questionnaire eliciting information about nocturia-specific quality of life impact (N-QOL), perceptions of nocturia, and medical-consultation behavior. A total of 328 women completed this study. Of these, 187 (57%), 99 (30.2%), 30 (9.1%), and 12 (3.7%) reported one, two, three, and four or more nocturia episodes, respectively, per night during the past 4 weeks. Most women attributed nocturia to aging or excessive fluid intake and had a lack of medical information. Overall, only 13.1% had visited a doctor for this condition. Nocturia episodes [> or = three vs <three, odds ratio (OR) 3.8], N-QOL score (OR 2.0, per 10-point decrement), linking nocturia to a disease (OR 2.9), and medical information (OR 2.2) were independent factors associated with medical-consultation, whereas the lack of knowledge that nocturia was treatable appeared to be an important barrier to medical-consultation. Only 62.8% of the women were offered treatment upon consultation, even though nearly half of those treated reported significant improvement. A few women with nocturia have sought medical help, which appears to be affected by a compendium of factors. This study suggests that more information about nocturia should be provided to health providers and patients to identify and meet their most essential needs.
Chen
Fong-Ying
FY
School of Nursing, Hung Kuang University, Taichuang County, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Dai
Yu-Tzu
YT
Liu
Chih-Kuang
CK
Yu
Hong-Jeng
HJ
Liu
Cheng-Ying
CY
Chen
Tony Hsiu-Hsi
TH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D053158:Nocturia / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D013624:Taiwan; D016896:Treatment Outcome