clinical focus
I
A hidden
problem
An Australian
study on urinary
incontinence
among nurses
and midwives
highlights some
interesting aspects of an
often-neglected subject.
Heather Pierce interviewed
by Dallas Bastian
t is still seen as a taboo topic, even among some health
professionals, but recent research reveals a high prevalence of
urinary incontinence (UI) among female nurses and midwives,
and it may be influencing their intention to leave their current job.
Published in Neurourology and Urodynamics, the study
explores the prevalence and severity of UI among women in both
professions and the relationship between UI and work.
Of the female nurses and midwives who answered the survey
question on urine leakage, just under a third indicated they had
UI. Of these women, 40.5 per cent experienced moderate
and 4.4 per cent severe or very severe symptoms.
The study says those with severe or very severe UI are
more likely to indicate an intention to leave their job at 12
months than those with slight or moderate symptoms,
even after accounting for factors such as age, work
contract, shift allocations and job satisfaction.
Aged Care Insite sits down with lead author Heather
Pierce, a PhD student at the University of Technology
Sydney, to find out whether these findings are unique
to the nursing and midwifery professions and why UI
impacts decisions surrounding work.
ACI: Why did you decide to investigate the prevalence
and impact of UI among nurses and midwives?
HP: The experience of incontinence or UI is something that is
quite prevalent, and for those who are otherwise healthy and active,
it can have profound effects on their mental health and their social
interactions. We know that people leak urine, but we have limited
knowledge on how it impacts people when they’re at work.
The study I’m doing forms part of a much larger project called Fit
for the Future, which is being funded by the Australian Research
Council and the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association.
We wanted to know what the health of our workforce was and
to make recommendations to managers and policymakers as to
how to keep the workforce healthy and how to keep them staying
at work.
Our workforce is getting older and, just like the general
Australian population, we’re not always at our peak of health.
Incontinence or UI … can occur with activities like exercise,
coughing, sneezing or simply not making it to the toilet in time
when you have a strong urge to go.
It is prevalent, as I said before, among women and men.
However, it increases with age, and we know that the problem
is present and is going to be present for some degree in the
workforce because we know that the majority of nurses and
midwives are female. Our studies show that [women] are around
90 per cent [of the nursing workforce].
We also know that it occurs with health issues such as obesity.
So if we have a BMI greater than 30, it actually doubles your risk of
having UI. The other important issue is that it is a hidden problem,
so not many people disclose that they have the problem because
they are embarrassed or ashamed.
Statistics also show us that very few people seek help, and it takes
quite a long time and it needs to be quite severe before they even
do seek help, even though there is strong evidence that it can be
better managed or cured. Also, my background as a midwife and as a
woman made this an ideal topic for me to look into.
How common was UI among female nurses and midwives and
were the findings in line with your expectations?
We were looking at prevalence, and prevalence basically means how
24 agedcareinsite.com.au