Study Finds Women With Cystic Fibrosis "Too Embarrassed" To Seek Help.(for urinary incontinence)

2001 JUL 12- (NewsRx Network) -- A study from Britain reports that over two-thirds of women with the chest disease cystic fibrosis suffer urinary incontinence, yet are reluctant to seek help.

Given that incontinence can affect a patient's ability to perform essential daily treatment procedures, addressing this problem should become part of the routine management of cystic fibrosis, report Alison Orr and colleagues with South Manchester University Hospitals Trust, Manchester, U.K., in the June 21, 2001, issue of the British Medical Journal.

Researchers at the Adult Cystic Fibrosis Unit in Manchester invited women attending the clinic to complete an anonymous questionnaire. The questions related to the severity, causes, and physical or social impact of leakage when the chest was "good or "bad."

Of 75 questionnaires completed, 68% of women reported leakage of urine in the previous 12 months. They reported coughing, sneezing, laughing, and airway clearance as the major causes of leakage, which was worse when the chest was "bad." Eight women reported leakage affecting their ability to perform airway clearance. This is ...