‘It's our lot’: how resilience influences the experience of depression in women with urinary incontinence

Abstract

Urinary Incontinence has been associated with psychological effects such as depression. We aimed in this study to explore the subjective experience of the burden of urinary incontinence, in relation to mental health, in order to explain how these conditions interact. A qualitative study was undertaken using the Framework Approach to analyse in-depth interviews with nineteen women regarding their experiences with psychosocial outcomes for those with urinary incontinence with and without comorbid depression. Older women across all severities of incontinence and categories of depression tended to cope better than younger women. Within our resilience framework, two patterns of resilience - relational and situational – appear to contribute most to the experiences of women with incontinence and the particular way they respond to depression. Resilience-focused interventions in women newly diagnosed with incontinence may lessen the impact of depression on these women.

Keywords:

• sociology
• urinary incontinence
• depression
• resilience
• psychosocial factors
• framework approach

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by a PHCRED bursary awarded by the Discipline of General Practice at the University of Adelaide in 2011.  The PHCRED (Primary Health Care Evaluation and Development) Program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.

ORCID

J. C. Avery http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8857-9162