Female genital mutilation and urinary incontinence: an analytical comparison with Sudan's prevalent demography

Abstract

Objective: Female genital mutilation/cutting impacts over 200 million women globally and is linked to obstetric complications as well as long-term urogynecological and psychosexual issues that are frequently overlooked and inadequately addressed. This study aimed to assess the impact of female genital mutilation/cutting on urinary incontinence.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the gynecology department of the Research Hospital located in the Nyala rural region of Sudan. The participants were interviewed to gather socio-demographic and background information. In addition, they received a thorough gynecological examination to evaluate the presence and type of female genital mutilation/cutting. The Incontinence Impact Questionnaire and the Urogenital Distress Inventory were applied to the group with female genital mutilation/cutting and the control group without female genital mutilation/cutting to evaluate urinary incontinence and related discomfort. Subsequently, the scores of both participant groups were compared.

Results: The study compared age, weight, height, BMI, gravida, parity, and sexual intercourse averages between groups. The mean Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 scores of individuals who underwent mutilation were higher than those of individuals who did not undergo mutilation (p<0.001). Notably, participants subjected to infibulation exhibited significantly higher average scores on both measures in contrast with the other groups (p<0.001).

Conclusion: A higher proportion of mutilated participants, specifically those with infibulation, are afflicted with symptoms of incontinence.