Prevalence and associated risk factors of retention of urine after caesarean section.

Caesarean section poses higher risk of postpartum urinary retention (PUR) than vaginal delivery. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence and the associated risk factors of PUR after caesarean section. Two hundred seven parturients (mean age = 31.26 years old, median parity = 0) who delivered by caesarean section were recruited from the postnatal unit of a tertiary hospital in Hong Kong. Voiding was encouraged 6 h after removal of Foley catheters. Transvaginal ultrasound scan was performed immediately after voiding to estimate the postvoid residual bladder volume (PVR). PUR after caesarean section was defined as PVR of more than 150 ml. The results indicated a prevalence of 3.38%. Logistic regression analysis indicating 'lack of progress of labor' was the only significant associated factor (p < 0.001). The findings of this study provide information for further exploration on how to reduce the morbidity caused by PUR in the postoperative period of caesarean section.

Randomized controlled trial of foot reflexology for patients with symptomatic idiopathic detrusor overactivity.

The aim of this study was to examine whether foot reflexology has beneficial effects on patients with idiopathic detrusor overactivity. One hundred and nine women with symptomatic idiopathic detrusor overactivity were randomized into either foot reflexology treatment group or nonspecific foot massage control group. The primary outcome measure was the change in the diurnal micturition frequency. There was significant change in the number of daytime frequency in the reflexology group when compared with the massage group (-1.90 vs -0.55, p = 0.029). There was also a decrease in the 24-h micturition frequency in both groups, but the change was not statistically significant (-2.80 vs -1.04 p = 0.055). In the reflexology group, more patients believed to have received "true" reflexology (88.9 vs 67.4%, p = 0.012). This reflects the difficulty of blinding in trials of reflexology. Larger scale studies with a better-designed control group and an improved blinding are required to examine if reflexology is effective in improving patients' overall outcome.

Changing prevalence and knowledge of urinary incontinence among Hong Kong Chinese women.

A territory-wide telephone survey was conducted in Hong Kong to assess the prevalence, knowledge, and treatment-seeking behaviour of Chinese women with urinary incontinence, using validated Chinese version of Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI-6) and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (IIQ-7). Women, 540, aged between 17 to 77 years were interviewed. Of the respondents, 40.8% reported stress urinary incontinence, 20.4% had urge incontinence and 15.9% had mixed incontinence. Among these, 16.0% reported quality of life impairment; 9.3% felt frustrated with low morale, and 15.2% had nervous and anxiety problems. However, as many as 78.3% of the respondents did not know that stress urinary incontinence is a disease entity, and 60.6% thought that leakage of urine was a normal aging process. For those respondents having stress urinary incontinence, the first treatment of choice was physiotherapy. The second choice was medication, and surgical treatment was the last option. Respondents with stress urinary incontinence showed higher education level.