Healthcare personnel's attitudes towards patients with urinary incontinence.

The aim of the study was to understand the variability of Norwegian staff's attitudes towards patients with urinary incontinence across years and place of work, age and education levels. The Incontinence Stress Questionnaire-Staff Reaction (Norwegian version) (ISQ-SR-N) was used to measure staff's reactions and feelings towards patients with urinary incontinence. A cross-sectional survey design was used to gather self-reported data. The research sites were five nursing homes, three home care districts and medical and surgical wards at a university hospital. Of the 745 staff invited, 535 (72%) returned the questionnaire. Staff members working in long-term care units were older than staff members working in acute care units. Most of the registered nurses worked in acute care, whilst most of the nursing assistants worked in long-term care. Stepwise regression analysis identified education, working in a medical/surgical units, and the interaction of education and working in a medical unit to be most predictive of attitudes. Nursing assistants had more positive attitudes than registered nurses. Working in medical/surgical units predicted the most negative attitudes. Only 15.2% of the variability of attitudes can be explained by the predictive variables.

A Norwegian version of the Incontinence Stress Questionnaire-Staff Reaction: translation and validation for cross-cultural use.

The aim of the present study was to translate and validate the Incontinence Stress Questionnaire--Staff Reaction (ISQ-SR) for cross-cultural adaptation to Norway. The ISQ-SR is a 30-item questionnaire developed in the U.S.A. by Dr. Lucy C. Yu. The questionnaire examines the experience of nursing home staff when working with patients with urinary incontinence. This article describes both the translation and testing procedure. Statistical analyses were carried out in the following steps of the testing procedure: (a) bivariate examination, (b) principal components factor analysis, (c) determination of internal consistency, (d) frequency analysis, and (e) estimation of test-retest reliability. Finally, the translated and tested questionnaire was compared with the original version. The Norwegian version consists of three factors with a total of 24 items, and is shown to be a valid and reliable version of the ISQ-SR. We conclude that we have achieved equivalence with the original version.

Distress associated with urinary incontinence, as measured by a visual analogue scale.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate patients' subjective perception of having urinary incontinence by using a visual analogue scale, and to assess the scale as a preliminary diagnostical tool. DESIGN: Four groups: middle age or elderly, urge or stress symptoms. Interviews by using a symptom questionnaire, and scores by using a visual analogue scale. SUBJECTS: Thirty-six women aged 40-60 years, and fourty women aged 70 or elderly were randomly selected from a resource and information centre for incontinent people. MAIN RESULTS: Women generally experienced urinary incontinence as distressing. Women with urge symptoms had higher scores than women with stress symptoms, and the middle aged women scored higher than the elderly. The study did not support the view that a visual analogue scale can be used as a diagnostic tool.