Assessment of Coping Strategies with Stress Urinary Incontinence among Saudi Menopausal Women

Abstract

The most common urinary issue among women going through menopause is stress urinary incontinence (SUI). It lowers women's quality of life on a physical and psychological level. As a result, to enhance their quality of life, menopausal women with SUI often take up either constructive or destructive coping mechanisms. Objective: Identify coping strategies among menopausal women with urinary stress incontinence. Setting: Urinary incontinence clinic of Makkah hospital, Saudi Arabia. Subjects: A convenience sample of 200 menopausal women with stress urinary incontinence were recruited in this study. Tools: Three tools were used; I: Basic Data Structured Interview Schedule, II: Urinary Incontinence Interview Schedule: PRAFAB- Questionnaire, and III: Revised Jalowiec Coping Scale. Results: Self-reliance was the most common coping method, while emotive coping was the least common, with 50% of research participants using no coping strategies at all. In conclusion, women try to constructively cope with health issues by using problem-based coping techniques (evasive and confronting). Recommendations: In order to help menopausal women develop adequate coping skills, gynecological nurses are recommended to attend training regarding the psychological effects of stress incontinence.