Back to MAAUA Scientific Program

---

Sexual Trauma and Psychiatric Comorbidities in Women with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms
Vernon Orton*, Daniel L Willis*, Diane Ibanez*, B Mayor Grob, Adam P Klausner
Virginia Commonwealth University Health System and McGuire Veterans Hospital, Richmond, VA

Introduction: The purpose of this investigation was to explore the association between sexual trauma, psychiatric comorbidity, and LUTS in women.
Methods:
Consecutive women (N=102) referred for LUTS were evaluated and compared to a control group obtained from the referring clinic (general women’s health) over a one year period (N=1300) at a tertiary care Veterans hospital. All women in the population were screened for sexual trauma and were considered positive if they responded "yes" to the question: "have you ever been forced to have sex against your will?" In addition, data regarding psychiatric comorbidities were extracted from the medical record. Upon referral, women were administered the urinary distress inventory-6 (UDI-6) and the Incontinence Impact Questionaire-7 (IIQ-7). Data were compared using Chi-Square analyses and unpaired Students T-tests.
Results:
Over a one year period, 1300 female veterans were evaluated by the general women’s health clinic of which 286 (22.0%) had sexual trauma and 369 (28.4%) had psychiatric comorbidities. Of 102 women referred for LUTS, 46 (45.1%) had sexual trauma (p≤0.001) and 69 (67.7%) had psychiatric comorbidities (p≤0.001). Total scores for the UDI-6 did not differ; however, patients with both sexual trauma and psychiatric comorbidity (N=36, surveys completed by 28) had greater quality of life impact (IIQ-7: 10.41 ± 1.04 vs 7.05 ± 1.05, p<0.05).
Conclusions:
Women evaluated for LUTS were found to have higher rates of sexual trauma and psychiatric comorbidities than women in the referring primary care clinic. These conditions were associated with a greater impact on disease-related quality of life.

---

Back to MAAUA Scientific Program