Overactive Bladder in Middle Age Women: The Frustration of Baby Boomers with OAB Symptoms

ORIGINAL ARTICLE


Nancy Muller

Affiliation: National Association For Continence (NAFC), Charleston, South Carolina, USA

ABSTRACT

In 2009, NAFC sponsored a nationwide survey of women aged 40 to 65 with overactive bladder (OAB). The purpose was to learn more about what drives women to seek treatment for OAB symptoms and what factors might precipitate stopping or changing treatment. Using a nonexperimental correlational design, descriptive demographic data were collected on respondents to examine correlations with their self-reported symptoms, behavior, attitudes, and feelings about OAB. The most salient findings of the primary research were: (1) women are significantly more likely to express feeling annoyed and frustrated about their symptoms of OAB than they are embarrassed or stigmatized and (2) frustration abounds among those in treatment. More research is needed to support the suggestion that female baby boomers are not necessarily obstructed by embarrassment or stigma associated with bladder control in seeking solutions to conditions such as OAB. Practitioners are encouraged to be more interactive and instructional with patients by offering a combination therapy approach to managing symptoms. Greater public health education is warranted to make more people aware of their treatment options.



Keywords: overactive bladder, stigmatization, quality of life, urinary incontinence, help-seeking behavior

Correspondence: Nancy Muller, National Association for Continence (NAFC), PO Box 1019, 62 Columbus Street, Charleston, SC 29403, USA. Tel: +1 843 377 0900, ext. 207; Fax: +1 843 377 0905; e-mail: nmuller@nafc.org