Symptoms of Pelvic Floor Dysfunction in elderly people from rural and urban zone: comparative study and analysis of the sociodemographic context.
Keywords: Urban Area. Pelvic Floor Disorders. Aging. Aged. Rural Areas.
Objective: The present study aimed to compare self-reported symptoms of Pelvic Floor Muscle Dysfunction (PFMD) between elderly women from rural and urban areas, also carrying out an investigation of their sociodemographic context.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional, quantitative study in which the following questionnaires were applied: sociodemographic, Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI-20), Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ-7), International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire - Short Form (ICIQ -SF) and Sexual Quotient – Female Version (QS-F). The inclusion criteria were: elderly women over the age of 60, residents of rural and urban areas of a municipality in the Sertão Paraibano, from July 2022 to August 2023. In the statistical analysis, the Shapiro-Wilk and the Mann-Whitney test. A p≤0.05 was considered.
Main results: A total of 50 elderly women participated in this research, 25 in the city group (CG) and 25 in the rural group (RG). In the analysis of the sociodemographic profile, the RG were older, lower family income, low level of education, and reporter higher distance to the UBS. The PFDI-20 total score and the “urinary symptoms” were worse in RG (p=0,016, p=0,011). In addition, this same group was responsible for the greater frequency of urinary loss and QOL impact (p= 0.023, p=0.027), evaluated by ICIQ-SF. SUI was the most common DMAP in both groups.
Final considerations: Both elderly women from rural and urban areas reported symptoms of DMAP. In this population-based study, the place of residence revealed a small effect on the occurrence of urinary symptoms among elderly women. Heterogeneous sociodemographic characteristics belonging to the groups, such as illiteracy rate, distances to the health unit, presence of comorbidity and overweight can be considered influential factors.