A Scoping Review of Quantitative Assessments of Women's Bladder Health Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs.

Background

To determine the need for an instrument to measure knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs (KAB) regarding bladder health for use in a population-based study of community-dwelling women, we performed a scoping review of the extant literature focusing on studies utilizing survey methodology to characterize bladder health KAB.

Objectives

To synthesize quantitative studies on women's KAB regarding bladder health and characterize their survey instruments.

Methods

A systematic search in Ovid Medline was conducted for articles published from January 1990 through April 2024. We included quantitative studies that used questionnaires to assess adolescent and adult women's bladder health KAB. Titles, abstracts, and full-text articles were screened, followed by data extraction of key study elements, questionnaire items, and quality.

Results

We identified 83 articles across seven topic areas. Studies were conducted in 26 countries in clinically (52%) and community-based (47%) settings. The majority (74%) used cross-sectional designs. Most studies used investigator-designed instruments (n = 36), the Prolapse and Incontinence Knowledge Questionnaire (n = 20), Urinary Incontinence Quiz (n = 6), Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice (n = 5), and the Urinary Incontinence Knowledge Scale (n = 4). The 33,444 respondents generally had limited knowledge of urinary incontinence. Although awareness of pelvic floor muscle exercises was high, respondents often could not articulate performance or indications. Few studies assessed bladder health and function, and there were limited data on attitudes and beliefs.

Conclusions

There is some evidence regarding women's knowledge of bladder and pelvic floor dysfunctions, particularly urinary incontinence, but less is known about women's knowledge of other bladder health topics. Even fewer data exist on bladder health attitudes and beliefs. Survey instruments that comprehensively assess bladder health are needed.