Women’s adoption of a web-based intervention for stress urinary incontinence: a qualitative study

BMC Health Services Research

Willem Jan Jozef Assendelft¹  Antoinette Leonarda Maria Lagro-Janssen¹  Lotte Firet¹  Manal Aourag¹  Theodora Alberta Maria Teunissen¹  Lukas van Doorn¹  Rudolf Bertijn Kool² 

[1] Department of Primary and Community Care, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Geert Grooteplein 21, Postbox 9101, 6500, Nijmegen, HB, Netherlands;IQ Healthcare, Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands;

关键词: E-health;    Urinary incontinence;    Women;    Adoption;    Implementation research;    FITT framework;    Qualitative study;    Pelvic floor muscle training;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12913-021-06585-z

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundStress urinary incontinence (SUI) is common among women and affects their quality of life. Pelvic floor muscle training is an effective conservative therapy, but only a minority of women seek help. E-health with pelvic floor muscle training is effective and increases access to care. To implement an e-Health intervention in a sustainable way, however, we need to understand what determines adoption. The aim is to investigate the barriers and facilitators to adopting an e-Health intervention among Dutch women with stress urinary incontinence.MethodsSemi-structured telephonic interviews were carried out among participants of the Dutch e-Health intervention for women with stress urinary incontinence. Women were purposively sampled. The ‘Fit between Individuals, Task and Technology’ (FITT) framework was used for both the data collection and data analysis, to gain a more in-depth insight into the adoption of the intervention.ResultsTwenty women were interviewed, mean age 51 years and mostly highly educated. The adoption of e-Health for women with SUI mainly depends on the interaction between users and e-Health, and users and pelvic floor muscle training exercises. Facilitators for the adoption were the preference for an accessible self-management intervention, having a strong sense of self-discipline and having the ability to schedule the exercises routinely. Women needed to possess self-efficacy to do this intervention independently. Barriers to the adoption of e-Health were personal circumstances restricting time for scheduling pelvic floor muscle training and lacking skills to perform the exercises correctly. Despite guidance by technical features several women remained uncertain about their performance of the exercises and, therefore, wanted additional contact with a professional.ConclusionsFor stress urinary incontinence e-Health is an appropriate option for a target audience. Use of the FITT framework clearly demonstrates the conditions for optimal adoption. For a subgroup it was a suitable alternative for medical care in person. For others it identified the need for further support by a health care professional. This support could be provided by improvements of technical features and incorporating modes for digital communication. The additional value of integration of the e-Health intervention in primary care might be a logical next step.Trial registrationThe study was prospectively registered in the Netherlands Trial Registry (NTR) NTR6956.

【 授权许可】

CC BY