Effect of Fluid and Caffeine Management on Quality of Life in Older Women with Overactive Bladder in Rural Korea: A Pilot Study

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of the simplified intervention, consisting of fluid and caffeine management alone in older women with overactive bladder symptoms. Patients and Methods: A quasi -experimental pretest -posttest design was used. Rural, community -dwelling older women were recruited at four senior centers in South Korea. Of the 63 participants initially enrolled, 34 met the inclusion criteria. One group (n = 15) used fluid and caffeine management alone (FM), and the other group (n = 12) used a combination of fluid and caffeine management and pelvic floor muscle training (FM+PFMT). Urinary symptom -specific health -related quality of life was measured using the Korean version of KHQ. Sleep quality was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. After the intervention, participants were assessed 4 and 8 weeks. A linear mixed model was used for the analysis. Results: The mean age of the participants was 74.44 +/- 5.67 years. Among the nine domains of KHQ, impact on life and physical limitations decreased significantly in both groups, without significant between -group differences. Sleep/energy increased in both groups, and the scores in the FM+PFMT group were significantly improved. The number of micturition episodes per day and the quality of sleep did not differ significantly between the two groups. Conclusion: A simplified intervention, consisting of fluid and caffeine management alone can be considered as the first -line intervention to improve health -related quality of life in rural, community -dwelling, older women with overactive bladder symptoms. Healthcare providers should consider providing a relatively simple, but equally effective intervention to maximize the adherence and effectiveness.