{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:55:17Z","timestamp":1787028917749,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":22,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,2]],"date-time":"2025-07-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1751414400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004242","name":"Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["FRP-1445-15"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FRP-1445-15"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004242","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: Urinary incontinence (UI) is a prevalent condition that significantly affects quality of life but remains underreported. Understanding the factors that influence patients\u2019 decisions to seek medical consultation is essential for improving care-seeking behavior and ensuring timely intervention. This study aimed to identify the facilitators of seeking medical consultation among individuals with UI in a Saudi secondary care setting. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2024 to April 2025 among adult patients with UI attending urology and urogynecology outpatient clinics at a single tertiary center. Participants completed a structured, self-administered questionnaire that comprised sociodemographic data, the ICIQ-UI SF, and 33 potential motivators for seeking care, categorized into six domains. Results: A total of 241 participants were included in the study. The 33-item scale demonstrated excellent internal consistency (Cronbach\u2019s \u03b1 = 0.945). The most influential domains were daily and physical impact, followed by emotional and psychological factors. Top facilitators included interference with prayers (66.8%), use of pads (62.2%), social limitations (63.9%), frequent clothing changes (64.7%), and fear of worsening symptoms (63.5%). Cultural factors, such as access to same-sex specialists (52.2%), were also prominent. Logistic regression identified age, marital status, and motivators from several domains as significant predictors. Key independent predictors included prayer interference, leakage frequency, and gender-concordant care. Conclusions: Help-seeking for UI is influenced by physical, emotional, social, and cultural factors. Enhancing patient education, addressing sociocultural sensitivities, and promoting physician-led discussions foster earlier care-seeking and improve health outcomes in populations with traditionally low treatment uptake.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina61071208","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,2]],"date-time":"2025-07-02T06:46:12Z","timestamp":1751438772000},"page":"1208","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Factors Influencing Help-Seeking Behavior in Patients with Urinary Incontinence: A Single-Center Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"61","author":[{"given":"Mohammed","family":"Alshehri","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz University Hospital, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0051-3714","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ebtesam","family":"Almajed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Science Department, College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-6277-1190","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Norah","family":"Alqntash","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Science Department, College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-1776-8699","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Badriyah Abdulaziz","family":"AlDejain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinical Science Department, College of Medicine, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-8600-5781","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Noura Nawar","family":"AlQurashi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Medicine, Taif University, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nojoud","family":"Alamri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz University Hospital, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9294-2665","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ali","family":"AbdelRaheem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Urology, Tanta University Hospital, Tanta 31527, Egypt"},{"name":"Department of Urology, King Saud Medical City, Riyadh 11495, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.1080\/13697137.2018.1543263","article-title":"The prevalence of urinary incontinence","volume":"22","author":"Milsom","year":"2019","journal-title":"Climacteric"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1363","DOI":"10.1089\/jwh.2022.0482","article-title":"Prevalence and Influencing Factors of Help-Seeking Behavior Among Women with Urinary Incontinence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis","volume":"32","author":"Liang","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. 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