Visit rates and risk factors of healthcare-seeking behavior for urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse among women: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Introduction: Female pelvic floor dysfunction(FPFD), including urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and pelvic organ prolapse, is an expanding global health problem among women, declining their quality of life. Healthcare-seeking behavior of FPFD patients plays a vital role in preventing symptom deterioration and reducing future burdens. Poor healthcare-seeking behavior has resulted in lower visit rates than prevalence. This study aimed to investigate the visit rate and risk factors of healthcare-seeking behavior in patients with FPFD and to provide a basis for developing prevention strategies against risk factors. Methods: An exhaustive systematic literature search was undertaken using the following databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and CINAHL, published from inception to June 2022. Two investigators independently extracted data and assessed the quality of the studies using the Health Care Quality and Research (AHRQ) or Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). A meta-analysis was performed by using Review Manager 5.3. Results: Eighty studies were selected, including 83,996 participants. Data were extracted from 71 studies for urinary incontinence, 5 for pelvic organ prolapse, and 4 for fecal incontinence. Meta-analysis results indicated that the visit rates of urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and fecal incontinence were lower, at 29%(95%CI:27% to 32%, I-2=99%, P<0.00001), 42%(95%CI:18% to 65%, I-2=99%, p=0.0005), and 35%(95%CI:16% to 54%, I-2=99%, p=0.0004), respectively. The study shows that there are a variety of factors affecting the healthcare-seeking behavior of FPFD women, including sociodemographic factors(treatment and diagnosis costs are high, lack of time, type of UI, duration of UI, symptom severity, and impact of UI), psychological factors(shame, fear of medical treatment side effects, fear of examination, and fear of surgery), cognitive factors (considering it as the normal status of aging, the perception that symptoms are not treatable, believing that symptoms could recover naturally, lack of knowledge of available treatment, believing they should cope with the problem themselves, do not think it is serious enough), healthcare service factors(the physician said it was not necessary, other health problems taking priority). Age, fear of hospitals/doctors, and fear of diagnosis do not affect healthcare-seeking behavior. Conclusion: Patients with urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse, and fecal incontinence have a low visit rate. Many risk factors affect the healthcare-seeking behavior of female pelvic floor dysfunction diseases, mainly sociodemographic, psychological, cognitive, and healthcare service factors. However, due to a lack of data, high-quality studies are still required to confirm. In the future, attention should be paid to policy guidance and ethical changes, strengthening the training of medical personnel and comprehensive medical education on the diagnosis, treatment and management of FPFD as well as appropriate nursing pathways. In addition, public information campaigns on the comprehensive prevention of FPFD should be strengthened to raise women's awareness of the comprehensive prevention of FPFD, especially health education. (c) 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.