Avaliação da relação entre o grau de literacia em incontinência urinária e o nível de atividade física em mulheres com idade igual ou superior a 55 anos do norte de Portugal

Abstract

Introduction: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the world population aged 65 or over will increase from 841 million to 2 billion by 2050, creating new challenges for global public health (United Nations, 2019). In this context, literacy is a powerful weapon for health promotion and disease prevention, and having a good degree of literacy allows the creation of health policies and intervention programs that cover the training and empowerment of women about their health. Urinary incontinence (UI) is defined as the involuntary loss of urine and can negatively affect a woman's quality of life, making prevention of this condition an important health objective. UI can also happen during the practice of physical activity (PA), depending on the modality and its intensity, turning the UI into an impediment factor for the participation of older women in the practice of PA. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between the degree of literacy in urinary incontinence (DLUI) and the level of PA (LPA) in women aged 55 years or older in northern Portugal. Method: Application of the IPAQ-SF (International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form) and Q-IU (Urinary Incontinence Quiz) questionnaires in women aged 55 years and over. Results: Seventy seven (67) women were included in the study, but no statistically significant differences were found in any of the variables. Despite this, a low DLUI independent of LPA was seen. Conclusions: No relationship was found between GLIU and LPA. There are gaps in the knowledge of women aged >55 years in the north of Portugal about UI, especially among those with lower levels of education. The low level of knowledge of these women about the relationship between PA and UI is emphasized, showing the importance of educating women about the risk factors for UI. This pattern of findings indicates a greater need for community education on UI.