Title: Prevalence of bothersome Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms among Pregnant Women in Maiduguri, Northeastern Nigeria
Authors: Usman Mohammed Tela, Baba Gana Bako, Harrison Igbinogun
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i4.129
Abstract
Background: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) can occurs in pregnancy with variable presentations. These symptoms are perceived to have negative effect in the quality of life (QoL) in pregnant women. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of Bothersome LUTS in this population using the International Consultation on Incontinence questionnaire English module for female LUTS (ICIQ-FLUTS)
Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study of five hundred pregnant women using the ICI-FLUTS questionnaire. The questionnaires were administered by trained interviewers to consented pregnant women at various trimesters between the age of 17 to 46 years who were attending antenatal care at the university of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri, Borno state, Nigeria. Socio-demographic and obstetrics data including the impact of LUTS on the QoL of pregnant women were obtained from the administered questionnaires. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.
Results: storage phase symptoms (urgency, daytime frequency, nocturia and dysuria) were the commonest lower urinary tract symptoms observed. Nocturia has the highest occurrence among our respondents with a prevalence of 94.2%. Voiding phase symptoms observed were hesitancy and straining. Hesitancy was commoner with 34%. Occurrence of Incontinence in the form of stress (39.2%), urge (31.2%), overflow (11.8%) and enuresis (11.6%) were found among the respondents. Storage phase symptoms were most bothersome. Majority of the LUTS were reported in the first trimester.
Conclusion: LUTS in pregnancy was determined in our environment using the ICIQ-FLUTS questionnaire tool. The QoL of these women was negatively affected by bothersome LUTS from early pregnancy. Many of the participants will benefit from medical care if available.
Keywords: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), pregnancy, ICIQ-FLUTS, (International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Female LUTS).
