Christine Bradway1. 1. University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, PA, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to use narrative analysis as a method for examining the lived experience and meaning of long-term, female urinary incontinence (UI). METHOD: Cognitive anthropology and critical medical anthropology provided the overall framework for this study. Theoretical saturation (Strauss, 1987) was achieved after 17 community-dwelling women with long-term (greater than 5 year's duration) UI were interviewed. Informants participated in two face-to-face, audiotaped, interviews and a semi-structured, topical outline for each interview was used. A field journal was used to supplement and validate other data. Informant's narratives were analyzed to emphasize the overall plot type of their stories. FINDINGS: In this study, three dominant plot types emerged from women's narratives: the UI Quest Narrative, UI Restitution and Redemption Narratives, and the UI Victim Narrative. These plot types provide a beginning understanding of the lived experience and meaning of long-term female UI. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings suggest (a) long-term female UI is primarily conceptualized as a condition integrated into a larger life story, (b) women with long-term UI relate stories that follow a narrative format, and (c) long-term, female UI is heterogeneous. Findings go beyond existing literature by suggesting that women's UI narratives serve an important function in understanding the lived experience and the meaning of UI.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to use narrative analysis as a method for examining the lived experience and meaning of long-term, female urinary incontinence (UI). METHOD: Cognitive anthropology and critical medical anthropology provided the overall framework for this study. Theoretical saturation (Strauss, 1987) was achieved after 17 community-dwelling women with long-term (greater than 5 year's duration) UI were interviewed. Informants participated in two face-to-face, audiotaped, interviews and a semi-structured, topical outline for each interview was used. A field journal was used to supplement and validate other data. Informant's narratives were analyzed to emphasize the overall plot type of their stories. FINDINGS: In this study, three dominant plot types emerged from women's narratives: the UI Quest Narrative, UI Restitution and Redemption Narratives, and the UI Victim Narrative. These plot types provide a beginning understanding of the lived experience and meaning of long-term female UI. CONCLUSIONS: Study findings suggest (a) long-term female UI is primarily conceptualized as a condition integrated into a larger life story, (b) women with long-term UI relate stories that follow a narrative format, and (c) long-term, female UI is heterogeneous. Findings go beyond existing literature by suggesting that women's UI narratives serve an important function in understanding the lived experience and the meaning of UI.
Authors: Suzanne Hagen; Carol Bugge; Sarah G Dean; Andrew Elders; Jean Hay-Smith; Mary Kilonzo; Doreen McClurg; Mohamed Abdel-Fattah; Wael Agur; Federico Andreis; Joanne Booth; Maria Dimitrova; Nicola Gillespie; Cathryn Glazener; Aileen Grant; Karen L Guerrero; Lorna Henderson; Marija Kovandzic; Alison McDonald; John Norrie; Nicole Sergenson; Susan Stratton; Anne Taylor; Louise R Williams Journal: Health Technol Assess Date: 2020-12 Impact factor: 4.014
Authors: Beverly Rosa Williams; Keith Vargo; Diane K Newman; D Yvette Lacoursiere; Elizabeth R Mueller; John Connett; Lisa Kane Low; Aimee S James; Ariana L Smith; Kathryn H Schmitz; Kathryn L Burgio Journal: Urol Nurs Date: 2020 Nov-Dec