title: The assessment of quality of life in female Turkish patients with overactive bladder.
abstract: The objective of this study was to examine the quality of life in female Turkish patients with overactive bladder (OAB). The investigation was conducted as a cross-sectional study between January and April 2010. Two hundred eighty female patients responded to the Overactive Bladder Validated Eight-Question Screener, the OAB disease-specific health-related quality-of-life scale (OAB questionnaire (OAB-q)) and the general quality-of-life scale EuroQol Five-Dimensional Questionnaire (EQ-5D) for the study. Of the 280 patients, 38.9% was classified as having OAB. The mean age was 47.0 ± 8.7. All of the quality-of-life domains (coping, concern, sleep and social) and OAB-q total scores in women with OAB were significantly worse than in women without OAB (P < 0.001 for all). Similarly, the EQ-5D(index) and EQ-5D(VAS) scores for women with OAB were significantly worse than for women without OAB (P < 0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively). OAB-q and EQ-5D(index) scores in menopausal women were significantly lower than non-menopausal women (P < 0.05) in patients with OAB. In conclusion, OAB negatively affects quality of life in Turkish women. However, many women's quality of life can be improved if the patients seek medical treatment. Thus, nurses should encourage the patients to seek medical support in order to cope with health-related quality-of-life problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Nursing, Institute of Health Sciences, Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey. haticesut@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Hatice Kahyaoglu
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Sut
authors.forename: Petek Balkanli
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Kaplan
authors.forename: Necdet
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sut
authors.forename: Serap
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tekbas
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012890:Sleep; D012919:Social Behavior; D014421:Turkey; D053201:Urinary Bladder, Overactive / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology