Research Area:
Addictions Anxiety Disorders Mood Disorders Genomics Psychopharmacology
Eating Disorders Psychophysiology Neurodegenerative disorders
Cognitive Neuroscience Schizophrenia Traumatic stress Social Psychiatry
Doctoral project name:
Zlatko Pastor, MD
Psychosocial aspects of sexuality of incontinent women
Supervisor:
Prof. Petr Weiss, Ph.D.
Short project description:
There is a high percentage of women suffering from a urinary incontinence. Lately they have received a satisfactory care in a diagnostic-medical treatment area but a comprehensive solution of this issue including psychogenic aspects, let alone sexual aspects, is totally insufficient. Serious representative research of this issue is completely missing in the
The patients, who will be dispatched to a specialised department dealing with a diagnostics and urinary female incontinence treatment, will be put on a research. On the first visit an anamnesis will be taken, a diagnosis of urinary incontinence will be determined and forms describing sexual life of a patient will be filled in, other examinations, interview and forms filling will be done in 6 and in 12 months since first visit of the specialised department. The patients will fill an international questionnaire – Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and a special form created for this study in which the questions from previous representative studies of general research of sexual behaviour of Czech population will be used. All the patients will be examined by both a gynaecologist and a sexologist. The results will be assessed by a comparative statistical method by the SPSS program with a determination of t-test of mean value difference importance in quantitative elements and chi-square test of importance of qualitative elements difference between a group of patients and results of age-comparable women category from the Czech population sexual behaviour research. The same way the patients will be assessed in the course of repeated examinations after half a year and after a year.
Project goals:
The research project is aimed at answering a question how a urinary incontinence limits a female sexual life. What is impact of this disorder on a female psychic, partners’ life and a life quality? It will be focused on a research of prevalence of psychical problems of incontinent women and will be finding out which disorders are the most frequent.
We will find out how often a psychosocial adaption worsens during this disorder and how it is disturbing partner and sexual relations and if a incontinency is a reason for substantial limitation or total resignation on a sexual life. We will be finding out in how long after a solution of a problem women are coming back to their sexual activities or if a partial or a full loss of sexual life prevails. We will focus on reactions and behaviour of partners of incontinent women and will be finding out how often this disorder is a reason of partners problems or a break up. We are interested in knowing which forms of psychotherapeutic support are the most suitable for women with incontinence and sexual problems and when such support should be commenced and whether this issue has substantial specialist interest.
Project Milestones, Timing:
In a preparatory period I am going to study the literature dealing which this issue, I am going to create a special questionnaire which will evaluate objectively a relation of incontinency disorder to a sexual life of women, and which would select methodology for correct diagnostics procedure and results processing. The research will include the examination of patients with urinary incontinence and a reviewing of their sexual life by the questionnaire method and by the interview. After receiving all the relevant outputs the material will be statistically processed and valued. The work should be submitted in autumn in 2010.