Effect of Reflexology to Depressive Symptoms in Women With Overactive Bladder

Abstract

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a chronic disease that has negative effects on quality of life, especially when seen alongside urinary incontinence. In society-based studies, the prevalence of OAB in women was found to be between 9.7% and 35.7%. Overactive bladder syndrome, which is seen in women more often than in men, is seen more with progressing age and affects all age groups.1,2 Many studies have determined that because of OAB complaints women experience a decrease in selfconfidence, social isolation, and a feeling that they are different from others in the society, limited social and physical life, and negative effects on social interactions, professional life, psychological wellbeing, and sexual life.3,4,5 In addition, women can experience a fear of smelling bad because of urinary incontinence, feelings of inadequacy and dirtiness, ailment, stigmatization, distorted body image, guilt, denial, anxiety, and depression, and may exhibit emotional reactions.4,6,7 For these reasons, efforts to form alternative treatment