Stress urinary incontinence is prevalent among women. Pelvic floor muscle exercise has been found to be an effective treatment for management of women with stress urinary incontinence. Women's non-adherence to pelvic floor muscle exercise has been the major obstacle for achieving desirable treatment outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between the severity of stress urinary incontinence, impact of incontinence, self-esteem, and intrinsic motivation among Chinese women with stress urinary incontinence and to examine the implications of these relationships on Chinese women's adherence to pelvic floor muscle exercise. / The model developed from the study explained that Chinese women's adherence to pelvic floor exercise is influenced by the interaction among contextual, intrinsic and extrinsic components. Throughout learning and practicing pelvic floor muscle exercise, women's level of motivation to learn and adhere to exercise can be increased or decreased as these components interacted with each other. Finally, the study also highlights implications for nursing practice including the importance of assessment of women with urinary incontinence, awareness of factors influencing adherence to the exercise, and promoting women's adherence to the exercise by fostering women's exercise competency and commitment to exercise and raising women's awareness of the benefits of exercise. / The phase two findings showed that women's perception of severity of incontinence was influenced by sociocultural factors, self-esteem, and level of knowledge. The findings also indicated that about one-third of women were reluctant to disclose their incontinence problems to their partner. This was partly due to their beliefs of linkage between incontinence and deterioration of sexual function, and their conservative view regarding incontinence as a private matter which should not be discussed with their partner. Furthermore, the findings indicated that women's competency, commitment, perceived benefits of pelvic floor muscle exercise and perceived support from family and health professionals were the factors influencing women's adherence to pelvic floor muscle exercise. Importantly, the study revealed that motivation is dynamic in nature from women's initial learning to maintenance of the exercise. Furthermore, motivation was influenced by beliefs in effectiveness of the exercise, perceived exercise benefits and severity of incontinence. / The study employed a mixed method approach using a quantitative design in phase one and a qualitative design in phase two. The results of phase one of the study showed that the majority of women had low level of severity and impact of incontinence; however, 70% of women had high level of motivation to engage in pelvic floor muscle exercise. The results also demonstrated that women's self-esteem was influenced by the severity of incontinence in terms of consumption of pads, as well as the impact of incontinence on different aspects of life being affected by stress urinary incontinence. In addition, those women who had a higher level of severity in terms of increased wetting in previous year and previous week, as well as increased numbers of activities being affected by incontinence were more likely to have a higher level of motivation to adhere to pelvic floor muscle exercise. Furthermore, women with higher levels of impact of incontinence in terms of being affected on sexual life also demonstrated to have a higher level of motivation to adhere to pelvic floor muscle exercise. / Siu Lai Sheung Katherine. / "August 2006." / Adviser: Sheila Twinn. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-03, Section: B, page: 1562. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 266-300). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.