Urinary incontinence in women living in urban and rural areas

Aim:
The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of urinary incontinence symptoms in co-women living in rural and metropolitan areas, and to determine the relationship between place of residence and urinary incontinence and reporting of this problem to a physician.

Material and methods:
The study group consisted of 492 women who reported to the POZ from the rural communities of Niebylec and Dębowiec in Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the city of Krakow and completed a questionnaire of their own authorship. The following symptoms of urinary incontinence were assessed in the women: pushing and urge to urinate, uncontrollable urge to urinate, urge to urinate after sneezing or coughing, and urge to urinate while running, dancing and exercising, as well as using the toilet at night. Were used: Spearman's and Pearson's rank correlation coefficient, Student's t-test, tests of significance of differences, and Chi2 and Fisher's test.

Results:
The questionnaire survey showed significant differences between urban versus rural women in the aspects of urinary urgency (p>0.001), stress urinary incontinence (p>0.001) and urination at night (p>0.001). There is an association between place of residence and reporting of these symptoms to the doctor (χ²1 =135.72, p<0.001).

Conclusions:
The number of deliveries significantly affects urgency push. Women living in rural areas are more likely to have urinary urgency, while those living in urban areas are more likely to report symptoms of stress urinary incontinence and urination at night. Women living in the city are more likely to report these problems to a doctor.