Hailey Stevens '22, a Nursing major, is presenting her research at the 2022 Grimes Research Competition.
Her research title is: Quality of Life and Symptom Sharing Among Women with Athletic Urinary Incontinence.
Please describe your research in non-technical language. How did you become interested in your research subject?
During the summer of 2021, I completed a ten-week internship through the NH-INBRE network at Dartmouth College and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. During this time, I worked closely with Bridget Linehan who has been developing a questionnaire about Athletic urinary incontinence (UI) called the AWIST. Athletic UI is urine leaking that occurs during exercise and causes worry, frustration, and embarrassment for many female athletes. For my Honors Thesis, I analyzed data from the AWIST questionnaire to determine whether UI frequency is related to the amount of worry, frustration, and embarrassment that women experience, and who women share their symptoms with.
What are the most interesting findings from your research?
There is a significant association between frequency of Athletic UI and the amount of frustration, worry, and embarrassment that women feel. The more severe UI is, the more women feel frustration, worry, and embarrassment. Women use various strategies to manage the UI. Some women avoid exercises or exercise less often, which puts them at risk for negative long-term affects on their physical and mental health. Most women talk to someone about their symptoms. This is a new finding.
Has this work been published anywhere?
Submission for publication is planned for August 2022 to International Urogynecology Journal.
