Exploring the Role of Social Support in Treatment Seeking among the Women with Experience of Urinary Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is a chronic complication and a social stigma. One of the important and influential factors on the ability of patients to cope with the nature of chronic diseases is social support that affects patients’ behaviors, and changes the quality of life. However, social support can also be a way to improve treatment-seeking help. The aim of this study was to explore the role of social support in treatment seeking among the women with experience of urinary incontinence.

In this qualitative study, 20 women with experience of urinary incontinence referred to teaching hospitals in Tehran, Iran, were purposefully selected. Data collection was done through semi-structured and in-depth interviews. MAXQDA software was used for data analysis.

In the data analysis of participants' experiences, two themes were emerged, support deficiency theme including three main categories of “incompetent information support by others”, “lack of spouse support”, and “lack of family support”, and active support theme including two main categories of “informative support by others” and “spouse empathy”.

Effective social support from different sources such as spouse, family, and friends can play a significant positive role in encouraging and creating treatment-seeking behaviors in women with urinary incontinence. While negative and inefficient social support by others can be considered as important obstacles in pursuing the treatment of the disease.