Relationships among occupational stress, toileting behaviors, and overactive bladder in nurses: a multiple mediator model.

AIMS: To investigate: 1) the prevalence of overactive bladder among male and female operating room nurses; 2) the unhealthy toileting behaviors that nurses adopt to void their bladders; and 3) the mediating roles that different toileting behaviors play in the relationship between occupational stress and overactive bladder.

DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used.

METHODS: This study was conducted from July - September 2016 in Jinan, China. Four hundred eligible operating room nurses in five hospitals were recruited. Data were collected through survey questionnaires including the nurse job stress scale, the toileting behaviors scale and the overactive bladder symptom score questionnaire. Multivariate linear or logistic regression models, as appropriate, were used to test the mediation effect of each toileting behavior on the relationship between occupational stress and overactive bladder.

RESULTS: Overactive bladder was highly prevalent in both male and female nurses working in operating rooms. Approximately one of three nurses reported experiencing an overactive bladder. The most common unhealthy toileting behavior was delayed voiding. Unhealthy toileting behaviors mediated the relationship between occupational stress and overactive bladder. With high levels of occupational stress, nurses tended to adopt unhealthy toileting behaviors to empty their bladders. The more the nurses engaged in unhealthy toileting behaviors (e.g., delayed voiding and straining to void), the greater the likelihood of having overactive bladders.

CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the mediating role of toileting behaviors on occupational stress and overactive bladder. To accommodate occupational stress, nurses engaged in unhealthy toileting behaviors that were detrimental to their bladder health. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.