Effect of Fluid and Caffeine Management on Quality of Life in Older Women with Overactive Bladder in Rural Korea: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Purpose This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the simplified intervention, consisting of fluid and caffeine management alone in older women with overactive bladder symptoms. Patients and Methods A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was used. Rural, community-dwelling older women were recruited at four senior centers in South Korea. Of the 63 participants initially enrolled, 34 met the inclusion criteria. One group (n = 15) used fluid and caffeine management alone (FM), and the other group (n = 12) used a combination of fluid and caffeine management and pelvic floor muscle training (FM+PFMT). Urinary symptom-specific health-related quality of life was measured using the Korean version of KHQ. Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. After the intervention, participants were assessed 4 and 8 weeks. A linear mixed model was used for the analysis. Results The mean age of the participants was 74.44 ± 5.67 years. Among the nine domains of KHQ, impact on life and physical limitations decreased significantly in both groups, without significant between-group differences. Sleep/energy increased in both groups, and the scores in the FM+PFMT group were significantly improved. The number of micturition episodes per day and the quality of sleep did not differ significantly between the two groups. Conclusion A simplified intervention, consisting of fluid and caffeine management alone can be considered as the first-line intervention to improve health-related quality of life in rural, community-dwelling, older women with overactive bladder symptoms. Healthcare providers should consider providing a relatively simple, but equally effective intervention to maximize the adherence and effectiveness.