Personality changes after anti-incontinence operations in women

Abstract

Seventy-three multiparous women with stress incontinence were evaluated before and 1 year after anti-incontinence procedures to assess the effects of successful surgical therapy on the personality of patients with genuine stress urinary incontinence. Urodynamic studies were used to assess the urinary incontinence; Taylor-Johnson temperament analysis was used to evaluate the personality characteristics of the subjects; and paired t-tests and t-tests were performed for statistical analysis. Nine of the 73 patients were excluded because of invalid answers on the questionnaire. Of the remaining 64, 57 (89%) were subjectively cured and 51 (80%) were objectively cured. The preoperative temperament evaluation revealed, in all the patients, traits of depressiveness and quietness which were significantly different from the normal range of the average population. Postoperatively, the authors found significantly (P<0.05) reduced depressiveness and increased social involvement, demonstrativeness and self-discipline only in the women subjectively cured. A trend was noted in terms of psychosocial adaptation between the patients cured and the ones with persistent incontinence. However, due to the small number of failures (n=7) no statistical differences could be demonstrated. It was concluded that women with stress urinary incontinence have increased depressiveness and decreased psychosocial involvement compared to the average population. Successful anti-incontinence procedures significantly improve the psychosocial status of these individuals.