The effect of the Incontinence Health Belief Development Program on women's urinary incontinence awareness and health beliefs: a randomized controlled trial.

Introduction And Hypothesis: This study is aimed at determining the effects of the Incontinence Health Belief Development Program (IHBDP) on the urinary incontinence awareness and health beliefs of women in the pre-menopausal period.

Methods: This randomized controlled study was conducted in 160 eligible women. The pre-test and post-test data of the study were collected from experimental and control groups using the Socio-Demographic Characteristics Information Form, the Incontinence Awareness Scale, the Health Belief Scale on Urinary Incontinence and Kegel Exercise, and the Broome Pelvic Muscle Self-Efficacy Scale. The IHBDP was implemented with members of the experimental group for 5 weeks.

Results: The women in the experimental group showed a significant difference in mean scores at the end of the program on the UI Awareness Scales, the Health Belief Scale on UI, and the Kegel Exercise compared with pre-training scores (p<0.05). In the experimental group, the factor scores and the total score of the Broome Pelvic Muscle Self-Efficacy Scale also increased. Furthermore, a statistically significant total score increase (p<0.05) was observed at the end of the program (79.8±8.8) compared with before the program (35.2±19.6).

Conclusions: The training given to the women in the pre-menopausal period based on the Health Belief Model appears highly effective in raising awareness about UI, fostering beliefs about Kegel exercises and increasing pelvic floor muscle self-efficacy.