Background: Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a
commonly occurring urological disorder in females, particularly among the elderly
population. Females with SUI often experience significant stigma associated with
their condition. This study aimed to investigate the current status of stigma
among elderly females with SUI and analyze its heterogeneous subtypes.
Methods: The Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness (SSCI) was used to survey
245 participants in two tertiary hospitals in Guangdong from November 2021 to
September 2022. Latent profile analysis was employed to create a classification
model, and variance and correlation analyses were conducted to assess the
influencing factors. Results: A total of 245 elderly females with SUI
participated in the survey. They had an average stigma score of 83.70
13.88, consisting of self-stigma (48.64 8.04) and perceived stigma (35.06
6.80) scores. Latent profile analysis identified three distinct and
comparable subtypes: the low-self-low-perceived group (14.69%), the
high-self-medium-perceived group (49.38%), and the high-self-high-perceived
group (35.91%). These subtypes exhibited statistically significant differences
in all dimensions and the overall stigma score (p 0.05) and were
found to be correlated with the patient’s level of education, marital
status, drinking habits, number of chronic illnesses, presence of diabetes, and
frequency of urinary leakage (p 0.05). Conclusion: This
study demonstrates that elderly females with SUI face elevated levels of stigma,
and it reveals distinct classification characteristics among them. Additionally,
it emphasizes the importance of providing specific support and attention to
individuals with higher levels of education, increased fluid intake, marital
status, severe urinary leakage, and diabetes.