Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jan-Feb;21(1):34-8.
doi: 10.1097/SPV.0000000000000103.

Elder American Indian women's knowledge of pelvic floor disorders and barriers to seeking care

Gena C Dunivan  1 , Yuko M Komesu, Sara B Cichowski, Christine Lowery, Jennifer T Anger, Rebecca G Rogers
Affiliations

Elder American Indian women's knowledge of pelvic floor disorders and barriers to seeking care

Gena C Dunivan et al. Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg. 2015 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to evaluate urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse knowledge among elder southwestern American Indian women and to assess barriers to care for pelvic floor disorders through community-engaged research.

Methods: Our group was invited to provide an educational talk on urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse at an annual meeting of American Indian elders. Female attendees aged 55 years or older anonymously completed demographic information and 2 validated questionnaires, the Prolapse and Incontinence Knowledge Questionnaire (PIKQ) and Barriers to Incontinence Care Seeking Questionnaire (BICS-Q). Questionnaire results were compared with historical controls from the original PIKQ and BICS-Q validation study.

Results: One hundred forty-four women completed the questionnaires. The mean age was 77.7 ± 9.1 years. The mean (SD) for PIKQ of urinary incontinence score was 6.6 (3.0) (similar to historic gynecology controls 6.8 [3.3], P = 0.49), and the mean (SD) for PIKQ on pelvic organ prolapse score was 5.4 (2.9) (better than historic gynecology controls 3.6 [3.2], P < 0.01). Barriers to care seeking reported by the elder women were highest on the BICS-Q subscales of "cost" and "inconvenience."

Conclusions: Urinary incontinence knowledge is similar to historic gynecology controls, and pelvic organ prolapse knowledge is higher than historic gynecology controls among elder southwestern American Indian women. American Indian elder women report high levels of barriers to care. The greatest barriers to care seeking for this population were related to cost and inconvenience, reflecting the importance of assessing socioeconomic status when investigating barriers to care. Addressing these barriers may enhance care-seeking southwestern American Indian women.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Nygaard I, Barber MD, Burgio KL, et al. Pelvic Floor Disorders Network. Prevalence of symptomatic pelvic floor disorders in US women. JAMA. 2008;300(11):1311–1316. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Harris SS, Link CL, Tennstedt SL, et al. Care seeking and treatment for urinary incontinence in a diverse population. J Urol. 2007;177(2):680–4. - PubMed
    1. Svihra J, Luptak J, Svihrova V, et al. Gender-specific external barriers to seeking care for urinary incontinence. Patient Preference and Adherence. 2012;6:773–779. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Berger MB, Patel DA, Miller JM, et al. Racial differences in self-reported healthcare seeking and treatment for urinary incontinence in community-dwelling women from the EPI study. Neurourol Urodyn. 2011;30(8):1442–1447. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Senekjian L, Heintz K, Egger MJ, et al. Do women understand urogynecologic terminology? Female Pelvic Med Reconstr Surg. 2011;17(5):215–217. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types