In Their Own Words: Adults' Lived Experiences With Intermittent Catheterization

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify themes related to barriers and facilitators to the integration of intermittent catheterization (IC) in the daily lives or persons using the form of bladder evacuation.

Design: Descriptive, qualitative study.

Subjects And Setting: A purposive sample of 25 adults from 5 countries (United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the Netherlands) was assembled. All participants had used IC as their primary method of bladder emptying for at least 1 year and, in that time, had used as least 2 different IC products.

Methods: Guided telephone interviews with each participant were conducted by professional staff fluent in each participant's local language as well as trained in qualitative data collection. Interviews were digitally recorded and subsequently transcribed verbatim into English for analysis. We used ATLAS.ti qualitative analysis software (version 7.5.11) to assist with data organization and identification of major themes. Descriptive statistics (eg, mean, standard deviation, or frequency) were used to characterize the sample in terms of sociodemographic and clinical characteristics as collected during the interview.

Results: Analysis revealed 9 main themes around individuals' lived experiences of IC: initial fear, urinary tract infection, pain/discomfort, independence, choice, community, life quality, resilience, and acceptance.

Discussion: Our results indicate that IC is perceived as a burden by some, but not all, users. The challenge, and opportunity, is to learn more about what has gone right for those who have adapted and to leverage the clinical, practical, psychological, and social factors that enable individuals to integrate IC into the rhythm of their daily lives.