Stress urinary incontinence after labor and satisfaction with sex life

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the incidence of stress urinary incontinence in women after labor, its determinants, and to establish its effect on women's satisfaction with their sex lives. Material and methods: The research implemented the Gaudenz-Incontinence-Questionnaire and the Sexual Quality of Life-Female scale (SQoL-F). The principal inclusion criterion was the time of 3 to 6 months after labor. Results: The research was carried out amongst 193 women. Thirty-two of the participants (16.6%) showed symptoms of stress urinary incontinence after labor that were statistically correlated with the number of experienced labors (p = 0.044) and the newborn's weight (p = 0.016). The participants' sex life satisfaction was on average 75.47 ± 24.68. The respondents suffering from stress urinary incontinence obtained a significantly lower (p = 0.006) average score for general sex life satisfaction (64.38 ± 26.15) when compared with women without symptoms of stress urinary incontinence (77.67 ± 23.86). Conclusions: The problem of incontinence after labor affected one in six women. Occupation, number of pregnancies, damage to the perineum during labor, and the infant's birth weight significantly dependent on the incontinence occurrence after labor. The onset of incontinence symptoms in women in the reproductive age has an adverse effect on their sex life satisfaction.