Association of stress urinary incontinence with stress, sleep quality, and health-related quality of life in nulligravid college women.
Source: PubMed, NCBI / U.S. National Library of Medicine
Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is increasingly recognized among young women, yet its psychosocial impact in collegiate populations remains understudied. We therefore investigated how SUI affects perceived stress, sleep quality, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in young female students. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 233 collegiate females (mean age 21.1 ± 1.9 years) with SUI symptoms at an Indian university. Participants completed validated instruments: the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ, urinary incontinence (UI) impact), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and *SF-36* (HRQoL). Regression and mediation analyses identified predictors of HRQoL. High UI impact (mean KHQ: 47.3/100) significantly correlated with elevated stress (mean PSS: 18.8/40; t (231) = 6.01, p < 0.001, d = 0.79) and poorer sleep quality (mean PSQI: 5.3/21; t (231) = 4.57, p < 0.001, d = 0.60). Participants with greater UI impact reported markedly reduced HRQoL (mean SF-36: 62.5/100; t (197.3) = - 7.12, p < 0.001, d = - 0.93). Regression confirmed UI impact (β = -0.45, p < 0.001), stress (β = -0.29, p < 0.001), and poor sleep (β = -0.17, p = 0.004) as independent predictors of diminished HRQoL, explaining 46.2% of variance. Exploratory mediation revealed that perceived stress accounted for 17.8% of the associa
Abstract
Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is increasingly recognized among young women, yet its psychosocial impact in collegiate populations remains understudied. We therefore investigated how SUI affects perceived stress, sleep quality, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in young female students. We conducted a cross-sectional study of 233 collegiate females (mean age 21.1 ± 1.9 years) with SUI symptoms at an Indian university. Participants completed validated instruments: the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ, urinary incontinence (UI) impact), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and *SF-36* (HRQoL). Regression and mediation analyses identified predictors of HRQoL. High UI impact (mean KHQ: 47.3/100) significantly correlated with elevated stress (mean PSS: 18.8/40; t (231) = 6.01, p < 0.001, d = 0.79) and poorer sleep quality (mean PSQI: 5.3/21; t (231) = 4.57, p < 0.001, d = 0.60). Participants with greater UI impact reported markedly reduced HRQoL (mean SF-36: 62.5/100; t (197.3) = - 7.12, p < 0.001, d = - 0.93). Regression confirmed UI impact (β = -0.45, p < 0.001), stress (β = -0.29, p < 0.001), and poor sleep (β = -0.17, p = 0.004) as independent predictors of diminished HRQoL, explaining 46.2% of variance. Exploratory mediation revealed that perceived stress accounted for 17.8% of the association between UI impact and HRQoL mediated by stress (indirect effect: -0.34, 95% CI: -0.52 to - 0.19); however, given the cross-sectional design, these findings are associative, not causal. UI impact was associated with impaired psychological well-being, sleep, and overall quality of life in young collegiate women. The strong independent associations highlight an urgent need for targeted interventions (e.g., pelvic floor therapy and psychological support) in academic health services to mitigate these psychosocial burdens.