Associative Network Method.
Lea Peroni, Didier Armaingaud, Charlotte Henry-Ducos and 1 others
PMID 37625182WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers and members of the public linked urinary incontinence with urgency, leakage, and many negative feelings, especially shame, isolation, judgment, and fear.
Protections were tied to negative feelings. Ask about embarrassment, not just management.
Key findings
01Around the word urinary incontinence, 41 participants produced 146 words, grouped into 10 themes; negative feelings were the most frequent theme, mentioned 68 times.
02The most important theme was imperiousness (urgency), followed by leakage and consequences; negative feelings ranked fourth despite being cited 68 times.
03The strongest link made by participants was between protections and negative feelings, seen six times.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Participants were volunteers already concerned about urinary incontinence, so their negative or positive ratings may be stronger than in a wider group. The sample was mostly women (90.2%), and the authors state results cannot be extended to men. Caregivers and public participants were recruited through calls and nurse coordinators, not by random sampling, so they may not represent all caregivers or older adults. The study reports associations and perceptions, not patient outcomes or treatment effects. Links between words were recorded, but the study could not identify what kind of links participants meant. Without semantic context, some words are hard to interpret; the authors used focus groups after the method.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the strong negative feelings as proof that older adults themselves feel shame or that continence care causes it. The study reports associations from mostly female caregivers and public volunteers, not patient outcomes.