Pelvic Floor Disorders among Minority Women: Differences in Prevalence, Severity and Health-Related Social Needs.

To characterize prevalence and severity of pelvic floor disorders (PFDs) in various healthcare settings and to examine unmet Health-related Social Needs (HRSN) among minority women.

Minority women with PFDs were recruited from our academic urogynecology clinic (UG), a general urology clinic at our institution's safety net hospital (SNH), and a community outreach mobile clinic (MC). Questions from the Urinary Distress Index-6 (UDI), Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory-6 (POPDI), and Female Genitourinary Pain Index (GUPI) were used to identify patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI), overactive bladder (OAB) and chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS).

61 (46.6%) women identified as Hispanic, 53 (40.4%) as Black, and 17 (12.9%) as Other. Overall, self-reported PFDs included SUI in 45%, OAB in 74.8%, and CPPS in 24.4% of women. Hispanic women were more likely to report OAB symptoms, compared to Black women (OR 3.4 [1.2-10.2], p = 0.03) or Other women (OR = 5.1 [1.3-20.4], p = 0.02). Participants held a median of five unmet HRSN. Minority women facing issues with family and community support, transportation, and utilities were more likely to report CPPS symptoms, compared to those without psychosocial issues (Support OR: 4.8 [1.7-13.7], p = 0.002; Transportation OR: 2.0 [1.0-8.2], p = 0.05; Utility OR: 7.0 [1.9-28.1], p = 0.005).

Minority women with PFDs may have several unmet HRSNs which impact their ability to receive appropriate medical care. Our findings may assist in the development of effective strategies to improve healthcare outcomes for women dealing with PFDs.

Urology. 2024 Feb 21 [Epub ahead of print]

Aaron A Gurayah, Sanjana Satish, Christina C Yarborough, Nathalie Perez, Katherine Amin, Ekene A Enemchukwu, Raveen Syan

Weill Cornell Medicine Department of Urology, New York, NY. Electronic address: ., Desai Sethi Urology Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL. Electronic address: ., Desai Sethi Urology Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL. Electronic address: ., Desai Sethi Urology Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL. Electronic address: ., Desai Sethi Urology Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL. Electronic address: ., Department of Urology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA. Electronic address: ., Desai Sethi Urology Institute, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL. Electronic address: .