Using a video assisted teaching program to reduce the severity of urinary incontinence symptoms in women

Urinary incontinence (UI) is still a common chronic health problem affecting physical, psychological and social well-being of women in developing countries. UI is a challenge to women's health because of the number affected and lack of access to affordable care that can cure or relieve associated symptoms especially in resource limited settings. This study explored the prevalence of UI and assessed effectiveness of a Video Assisted Teaching Program for Kegel's Exercises (VATPKE) in reducing severity of UI symptoms among community dwelling women. A survey was used to obtain data from a sample of 598 community dwelling Indian women in Coimbatore district in Tamilnadu State. A pre-posttest design was then used to assess effectiveness of the VATPKE in reducing UI symptom severity in affected women. Data were analysed using a paired samples t-test. Of the 598 women, 202 (34%) reported having some level of UI and most participants affected were married (78%), less educated (56%), had high BMI (52%) and lower socio-economic status. Affected women mostly reported the severity level of UI symptoms at pre-intervention as moderate (78%) or mild (22%).The mean post-intervention UI symptoms severity score (M = 21·72, SD = 3·99) was lower than pre- intervention (M = 29·91, SD = 5·12) and paired t-test results showed that the difference was highly statistically significant (p < 0·00). The VATPKE used in this study was effective in reducing the severity of self-reported UI symptoms in community dwelling Indian women.