Ján Švihra1, Ján Ľupták1, Viera Švihrová2, Marica Laščeková3
Objective: Barriers are specific, objective, external conditions that prevent incontinence suffers from seeking health care. The main goal of this study was to compare specific barriers to incontinence care seeking in Slovakia. Methods: Specific barriers were analyzed in a prospective study group of patients with urinary incontinence. Patients of all ages and both genders were included in a questionnaire-based study. The Barriers to Incontinence Care Seeking Questionnaire (BICS-Q) consists of 14 questions with subgroups related to the relationships, cost, site, fear and inconvenience factors. The International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF) consists of 3 questions related to the frequency, amount of urinary incontinence and quality of life. All patients completed ICIQ-UI SF, BICS-Q and were selected according to the gender, age and ICIQ-UI SF score. Statistical non-parametric tests were used for the statistical analysis, p < 0.05 was statistically significant. Results: 567 patients with urinary incontinence complied with the initial criteria. The study group consisted of 147 males (25.9 %) and 420 females (74.1 %). The mean age (SD, standard deviation) of study group was 68.7 (SD 15.4) with range of 22-98 years. The mean total BICS-Q was 7.5 (95 % Confidence Interval CI: 6.9-8.1), the mean total ICIQ-UI SF was 13.9 (95 % CI: 13.5-14.3). Group of patients with slight to moderate levels of urinary incontinence (group I, n = 198) had mean score of BICS-Q 5.9 (SD 5.4) and group of patients with severe and very severe levels of urinary incontinence (group II, n = 369) had mean score of BICS-Q 8.3 (SD 8.0). Differences between both groups were statistically significant in all factors of The Barriers to Incontinence Care Seeking Questionnaire. Conclusions: The Barriers to Incontinence Care Seeking Questionnaire revealed differences between patients with different severity of urinary incontinence, ageing and gender. The higher levels of barriers were found in patients with higher severity of urinary incontinence.