Speakers - WNSC 2024

Abstract

Background: Pelvic organ prolapse is a significant public health issue that influences millions of women’s lives through limitations on physical, social, and sexual activities as well as psychological distress. However, there was a scarcity of reports on the quality of life for women with pelvic organ prolapse in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aims to assess the magnitude of quality of life and its associated factors among women diagnosed with pelvic organ prolapse in Gynecology outpatient departments in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region public referral hospitals, Ethiopia.

Method: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples region of public referral hospitals from January to July 25, 2022, among 419 diagnosed women with pelvic organ prolapse. A validated tool was used to collect the data. The collected data were entered into Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression were computed. The p-value of <0.05 was used to declare the final statistical significance.

 Result: 409 women with pelvic organ prolapse were included in the study, giving a response rate of 97.6%. The overall poor quality of life was 57.5%. Regarding the quality of life domains, personal relationships (73.6%) were highly affected, and sleep/energy (24.2%) was the least affected domain. Stage III/IV prolapse (AOR= 4.61, 95% CI: 2.51, 8.48), menopause (AOR=3.59, 95% CI: 1.85, 6.97), unmarried women (widowed, divorced) (AOR=3.81, 95% CI: 2.02, 7.19), low-income level (AOR=7.48, 95% CI: 3.67, 15.24), and longer duration of prolapse (AOR= 8.8, 95% CI: 4.81, 16.11), were significantly associated with poor quality of life of pelvic organ prolapse.

Conclusion: More than half of women with pelvic organ prolapse had a poor quality of life. Stage III/IV prolapse, longer duration of prolapse, low-income level, menopause, and unmarried women are statistically significant factors in the quality of life of women with Pelvic organ prolapse. Therefore, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, with its stakeholders, should better develop an early detection and treatment strategy and financial support for women with pelvic organ prolapses.