Correlation Between Spiritual Well-being and Quality of Life in Patients With Urinary Incontinence: A Cross-sectional Descriptive Study

Abstract

Urinary incontinence (UI) increases the risk of medical complications and psychosocial, physical, and emotional problems. PURPOSE: This cross-sectional descriptive study investigated the correlation between spiritual well-being (SWB) and quality of life (QOL) in patients with UI. METHODS: Patients with UI visiting an outpatient urology clinic of a university hospital in Turkey were invited to participate. Data were collected using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being 12 Item Scale (FACIT-Sp-12) (range 0–48 with higher scores indicating better SWB) and the Incontinence Quality of Life Questionnaire (I-QOL) (range 0–100 with higher scores indicating better QOL). RESULTS: The sample consisted of 383 patients. Most were female (235; 61%), had completed high school (169; 44%), had experienced UI for an average of 3.54 years (SD 3.44), and were between 21 and 92 years of age (mean 52.7; SD 14). The mean I-QOL score was 65.31 ± 19.71 with subscores ranging from a low of 59.69 for social embarrassment to a high of 71.44 for psychosocial impact. The average FACIT-Sp-12 score was 28.00 ± 6.08. Overall I-QOL and FACIT-Sp-12 scores were weakly positively correlated (r = .235). CONCLUSION: In this study both QOL and SWB scores were good; higher UI-specific QOL scores and some subscores were associated with higher SWB scores and subscores. Incontinence QOL should be determined together with SWB in patients with UI.