The objective of this qualitative research was to better understand the repercussions of urinary incontinence in women's lives and to learn the meaning of the beliefs, values, and attitudes of HAVING incontinence and BEING an incontinent person. The method utilized was the thematic oral history and data was collected from August to October of 2005 in two different periods. First, we applied specific instruments for urinary incontinence. Afterwards, subjective data was collected using interviews with semi-structured questions. Through thematic analysis, four thematic fields were found - realizing that loss is not normal, having feelings in facing the loss, having to accept urinary incontinence, and having to have control not to lose or smell urine. We concluded, using unitary analysis, the apprehension of the phenomenon of BEING incontinent, understanding that women have individual strategies for dealing with the dialectic relationship between HAVING urinary incontinence and BEING an incontinent.
Urinary incontinence; Emotions; Nursing care; Women's health; Qualitative research
