Correlates of pelvic floor disorders in women 50 years and over attending gynaecology and urology clinics in Kingston, Jamaica

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between pelvic floor disorders and selected sociodemographic and health related variables among outpatient gynaecology and urology clinic attendees 50 years and over. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A total of 272 women 50 years and older were recruited from outpatient clinics at one tertiary hospital in Kingston. They were enrolled consecutively and data pertaining to sexual and genitourinary health, sociodemography, and health and social status were collected through use of an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Bivariate analyses were conducted to identify variables significantly associated with two pelvic floor disorders symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and urinary incontinence (UI). Based on these, a multivariate logistic regression model was developed to identify variables independently associated with having at least one pelvic floor disorder and to determine the strength of associations. RESULTS: Data relating to POP and UI were analysed for 268 and 263 women, respectively. More than half (51.7%) of the women had at least one pelvic floor disorder, withUI being more commonly reported (37.6%) than POP(25%). Controlling for education, hypertension, muscle/joint pain and menstrual status, each additional vaginal delivery was associated with a 15% (2.6%, 29.3%; p =0.017) increase in odds of having at least one pelvic floor disorder. CONCLUSION: Pelvic floor disorders are fairly common among outpatient clinic attendees and a higher number of vaginal deliveries significantly increase the likelihood of their occurrence. Due to their significant influence on health and well-being, risk factor identification is criticalfor informing prevention and mitigation strategies in women’s health.