Genital Hygiene, Toilet Behaviors, and LUTS in Normal Weight and Obese Women (GH-TB-BA-LUTS)

May 21, 2026 updated by: Özge Çoban, Gulhane School of Medicine

Investigation of Genital Hygiene, Toilet Behaviors, Body Awareness, and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Normal Weight and Overweight/Obese Women

The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare genital hygiene habits, toilet behaviors, body awareness levels, and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in women aged 18-45 years, categorized by Body Mass Index (BMI) as normal weight (BMI = 18.5-24.9 kg/m²) and overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m²). The study seeks to improve social participation and quality of life by increasing awareness regarding obesity, genital hygiene, and urogenital health.

H1: There is a significant difference in lower urinary tract symptoms between BMI groups.

H2: There is a significant difference in genital hygiene behaviors between BMI groups.

H3: There is a significant difference in toilet behaviors between BMI groups. H4: There is a significant difference in body awareness levels between BMI groups.

H5: There is a significant relationship between lower urinary tract symptoms and genital hygiene behavior.

H6: There is a significant relationship between lower urinary tract symptoms and toilet behavior.

H7: There is a significant relationship between lower urinary tract symptoms and body awareness.

H8: There is a significant relationship between genital hygiene behavior and body awareness.

H9: There is a significant relationship between toilet behavior and body awareness.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Detailed Description

While existing literature often focuses on single variables, this research adopts a holistic approach. The findings will help clarify the behavioral and awareness-related factors underlying the increased risk of LUTS and infections in overweight/obese women. Ultimately, this study aims to contribute to the development of weight-specific preventive strategies to protect women's urogenital health.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

216

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
    • KEÇİÖREN
      • Ankara, KEÇİÖREN, Turkey (Türkiye), 06000
        • Etlik City Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study will be conducted on women of normal weight, overweight, and obese women. Snowball sampling will be used to collect data from women of normal weight and overweight women. Data on obese women will be collected from women who apply to the Ankara Etlik City Hospital General Hospital Obesity Center and are selected based on our criteria.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Female participants
  • Between the ages of 18 and 45
  • Body mass index (BMI) between 18.5-24.9 kg/m² for the normal weight group
  • Body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m² for the overweight/obese group
  • Sufficient cognitive function to answer the questionnaires
  • Not having entered menopause

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Being pregnant or breastfeeding
  • History of bariatric surgery
  • History of gynecological or urological surgery/operation
  • Diagnosis of lower urinary tract infection or presence of active infection -symptoms
  • Presence of any neurological disease
  • Presence of any psychiatric disease
  • Presence of any oncological disease
  • Presence of a communication disorder that would interfere with the questionnaire application

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Normal Weight Group
Normal Weight Group: This group consists of female participants aged 18-45 years with a Body Mass Index (BMI) ranging from 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m². These individuals serve as the control group to evaluate baseline genital hygiene habits, toilet behaviors, body awareness, and lower urinary tract symptoms.
Overweight Group
Overweight Group: This group consists of female participants aged 18-45 years with a Body Mass Index (BMI) ranging from 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m². This group is evaluated to determine the specific impact of being overweight on urogenital health and behavioral factors compared to normal-weight and obese individuals.
Obese Group
Obese Group: This group consists of female participants aged 18-45 years with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30.0 kg/m² or higher. This group is evaluated to investigate how obesity correlates with the severity of lower urinary tract symptoms, genital hygiene practices, and body awareness levels.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Questionnaire
Time Frame: Baseline (Single assessment at study enrollment)
The Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Questionnaire to assess incontinence and other LUTS, sexual health, and quality of life, has a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.78. In the Turkish version's validity and reliability study conducted by Gökkaya et al., the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was found to be 0.931. The Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms questionnaire consists of 19 questions in 5 subscales: storage (questions 1-4), voiding (questions 5-7), incontinence (questions 8-12), sexual life (questions 13-14), and quality of life (questions 15-19). Questions) and has a Likert-type scoring system ranging from 0 to 3 points for questions 4, 13, 14, 17, and 19, and from 0 to 4 points for the others. A high score indicates increased LUTS severity and a negative impact on quality of life and sexual life.
Baseline (Single assessment at study enrollment)
Genital Hygiene Behaviour Scale
Time Frame: Baseline (Single assessment at study enrollment)
The Genital Hygiene Practices Scale is a five-point Likert-type scale completed by women themselves, consisting of a total of 23 items and 3 subscales. The subscales of the scale are: 'General Hygiene Habits (first 12 items)', 'Menstrual Hygiene (items 13-20)', and 'Awareness of Abnormal Findings (items 21-23). Scale items are scored numerically from 5 to 1, ranging from 'strongly agree' to 'strongly disagree'. The scale ranges from a minimum score of 23 to a maximum score of 115, with items 7, 14, 19, 20, and 23 being reverse-scored. Higher scores on the scale indicate positive genital hygiene behavior.
Baseline (Single assessment at study enrollment)
Toilet Behaviors - Women's Elimination Behaviors Scale
Time Frame: Baseline (Single assessment at study enrollment)
The Toilet Behavior-Female Voiding Behavior Scale consists of 18 questions. The Turkish version of the scale consists of 15 questions. The Urination Behavior Scale for Women consists of subgroups such as preferred location for urination (2 items), early urination (4 items), delaying urination (3 items), difficulty urinating (4 items), preferred position for urination (2 items), and each item is scored as 1=never, 2=rarely, 3=sometimes, 4=often, and 5=always. The internal consistency and reliability of the five subgroups range from 0.70 to 0.88, and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient is 0.81.
Baseline (Single assessment at study enrollment)
Body Awareness Questionnare
Time Frame: Baseline (Single assessment at study enrollment)
The Body Awareness Questionnaire is an 18-item measure that assesses an individual's reported sensitivity to bodily processes and their ability to predict bodily responses. The Body Awareness Questionnaire has four subscales: 'prediction of bodily responses', 'sleep-wake cycle', 'prediction at the onset of illness', and 'attention to changes and responses in bodily processes', and a 7-point Likert scale is used for evaluation. In this scale, responses are rated from 1 (does not describe me at all) to 7 (describes me completely), and the total score is obtained by adding up the scores for each item. The higher the total score, the higher the body awareness.
Baseline (Single assessment at study enrollment)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Gulhane School of Medicine

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Özge ÖZKUTLU, Assistant Professor, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, University of Health Sciences

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

December 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 15, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

March 15, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 26, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 26, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 3, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 21, 2026

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2025-035

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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