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Heavy Load Carrying and Symptoms of Pelvic Organ Prolapse among Women in Tanzania and Nepal: An Exploratory Study

Heavy load carrying of water, firewood, and sand/stones is a ubiquitous activity for women living in developing countries. Although the intra-abdominal pressure associated with heavy load carrying is hypothesized to increase the risk of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among women, relevant epidemiologic...

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Autores principales: Koyuncu, Aybüke, Kadota, Jillian L., Mnyippembe, Agatha, Njau, Prosper F., Sijali, Tula Ram, McCoy, Sandra I., Bates, Michael N., Harris-Adamson, Carisa, Prata, Ndola
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7908160/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33572663
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031279
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author Koyuncu, Aybüke
Kadota, Jillian L.
Mnyippembe, Agatha
Njau, Prosper F.
Sijali, Tula Ram
McCoy, Sandra I.
Bates, Michael N.
Harris-Adamson, Carisa
Prata, Ndola
author_facet Koyuncu, Aybüke
Kadota, Jillian L.
Mnyippembe, Agatha
Njau, Prosper F.
Sijali, Tula Ram
McCoy, Sandra I.
Bates, Michael N.
Harris-Adamson, Carisa
Prata, Ndola
author_sort Koyuncu, Aybüke
collection PubMed
description Heavy load carrying of water, firewood, and sand/stones is a ubiquitous activity for women living in developing countries. Although the intra-abdominal pressure associated with heavy load carrying is hypothesized to increase the risk of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among women, relevant epidemiologic data are lacking. We conducted a comparative study involving two exploratory cross-sectional studies among convenience samples of women carrying heavy loads, with different characteristics: (1) as part of their activities for daily living, in Shinyanga region, Tanzania; and (2) working as sand miners in Pokhara, Nepal. Women were categorized has having “low” or “high” load-carrying exposures based on the measured weights of the loads being carried at the time of the survey, as well as on self-reported duration and frequency of load carrying. A summary score for lower abdominal discomfort suggestive of POP was generated using questions from the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory (POPDI-6). Women with higher load carrying exposures had on average higher discomfort scores in both Tanzania (adjusted prevalence difference (PD(a)) = 3.7; 95% CI: −3.8–11.3; p = 0.33) and Nepal (PD(a) = 9.3; 95% CI: −4.9–23.6; p = 0.18). We identified trends suggestive of an association between increasing heavy load carrying exposures and symptoms of lower abdominal discomfort. Our findings underscore the need for larger epidemiologic studies of the potential adverse reproductive health effects of heavy load carrying activities on women in developing countries.
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spelling pubmed-79081602021-02-27 Heavy Load Carrying and Symptoms of Pelvic Organ Prolapse among Women in Tanzania and Nepal: An Exploratory Study Koyuncu, Aybüke Kadota, Jillian L. Mnyippembe, Agatha Njau, Prosper F. Sijali, Tula Ram McCoy, Sandra I. Bates, Michael N. Harris-Adamson, Carisa Prata, Ndola Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Heavy load carrying of water, firewood, and sand/stones is a ubiquitous activity for women living in developing countries. Although the intra-abdominal pressure associated with heavy load carrying is hypothesized to increase the risk of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among women, relevant epidemiologic data are lacking. We conducted a comparative study involving two exploratory cross-sectional studies among convenience samples of women carrying heavy loads, with different characteristics: (1) as part of their activities for daily living, in Shinyanga region, Tanzania; and (2) working as sand miners in Pokhara, Nepal. Women were categorized has having “low” or “high” load-carrying exposures based on the measured weights of the loads being carried at the time of the survey, as well as on self-reported duration and frequency of load carrying. A summary score for lower abdominal discomfort suggestive of POP was generated using questions from the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory (POPDI-6). Women with higher load carrying exposures had on average higher discomfort scores in both Tanzania (adjusted prevalence difference (PD(a)) = 3.7; 95% CI: −3.8–11.3; p = 0.33) and Nepal (PD(a) = 9.3; 95% CI: −4.9–23.6; p = 0.18). We identified trends suggestive of an association between increasing heavy load carrying exposures and symptoms of lower abdominal discomfort. Our findings underscore the need for larger epidemiologic studies of the potential adverse reproductive health effects of heavy load carrying activities on women in developing countries. MDPI 2021-01-31 2021-02 /pmc/articles/PMC7908160/ /pubmed/33572663 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031279 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Koyuncu, Aybüke
Kadota, Jillian L.
Mnyippembe, Agatha
Njau, Prosper F.
Sijali, Tula Ram
McCoy, Sandra I.
Bates, Michael N.
Harris-Adamson, Carisa
Prata, Ndola
Heavy Load Carrying and Symptoms of Pelvic Organ Prolapse among Women in Tanzania and Nepal: An Exploratory Study
title Heavy Load Carrying and Symptoms of Pelvic Organ Prolapse among Women in Tanzania and Nepal: An Exploratory Study
title_full Heavy Load Carrying and Symptoms of Pelvic Organ Prolapse among Women in Tanzania and Nepal: An Exploratory Study
title_fullStr Heavy Load Carrying and Symptoms of Pelvic Organ Prolapse among Women in Tanzania and Nepal: An Exploratory Study
title_full_unstemmed Heavy Load Carrying and Symptoms of Pelvic Organ Prolapse among Women in Tanzania and Nepal: An Exploratory Study
title_short Heavy Load Carrying and Symptoms of Pelvic Organ Prolapse among Women in Tanzania and Nepal: An Exploratory Study
title_sort heavy load carrying and symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse among women in tanzania and nepal: an exploratory study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7908160/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33572663
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031279
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