[Prevalence and quality of life in women with urinary incontinence. A population base study]. / Prevalencia y calidad de vida en mujeres con incontinencia urinaria. Estudio en población abierta.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of urinary incontinence and quality of life in relation to health in Mexican women between 20 and 80 years old in Mexico City. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The present is an observational, transverse and descriptive study. The questionnaire consisted of 3 parts: The first was a questionnaire from the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form, which was used to study of the prevalence of the disease. The second was the incontinence and quality of life questionnaire and the third was the EuroQol questionnaire. The last two investigated the impact of urinary incontinence on the quality of life in relation to health. RESULTS: The questionnaire was applied to 80 patients. The average prevalence was 46.5%. Women with urinary incontinence have a higher body mass index than those who are continent. Likewise, women with urinary incontinence were more likely to be overweight or to have type I, II and III obesity. Women with urinary incontinence had also a higher number of pregnancies and vaginal deliveries than continent women. Incontinent women reported a low quality of life in the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form and the incontinence and quality of life questionnaire (8.8 +/- 3.3, 77.2 +/- 21.7, respectively), with a limitation on activity of 75.1 +/- 21.2, a psicosocial impact of 83.4 +/- 21.8 and social embarrassment of 69.5 +/- 27.3. Women with urinary incontinence reported a lower quality of life index in the EuroQol questionnaire in relation to health than continent women. CONCLUSION: Psychosocial evaluation shows that urinary incontinence in women is associated with a lesser quality of life.

[Usefulness of peristalsis, flatulence and evacuation for predicting oral route tolerance in patients subjected to major abdominal surgery]. / Utilidad de la presencia de ruidos intestinales, flatos y eva- cuación en la predicción de la tolerancia a la vía oral en pa- cientes sometidos a cirugía abdominal mayor.

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the usefulness of bowel sounds, flatus and bowel movement presence to predict tolerance of oral intake in patients following major abdominal surgery. BACKGROUND DATA: nutrition is one of the most important factors in the management of postoperative care. The early oral intake has shown to contribute to a faster recovery. Traditionally the beginning of postoperative feeding after major abdominal surgery is delayed until bowel sounds, flatus and/or bowel movement are present although there is no enough medical evidence for their usefulness. METHODS: We studied 88 patients following major abdominal surgery. We registered the presence of bowel sounds, flatus and bowel movement each 24 hours in the postoperative period. We analized the relationship between the presence of these signs and the ability to tolerate oral intake. Predictive values, sensitivity, specificity and ROC curves were calculated. RESULTS: results shown that bowel sounds have an acCeptable sensibility but a very low specificity to predict the ability to tolerate oral intake. Unlike bowel sounds, bowel movements shown a low sensibility and a high specificity. Flatus turned out to have and intermediate sensitivity and specificity in the prediction of tolerance of oral feeding. CONCLUSIONS: in this study any of these signs were shown as a reliable indicator for beginning oral feeding because they have a moderate to low usefulness.