A review of quality-of-life questionnaires for urinary incontinence and overactive bladder: which ones to use and why?

Overactive bladder (OAB) and stress urinary incontinence have a profound impact on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQL). The purpose of this article is to identify and describe condition-specific HRQL measures validated among patients with symptoms of OAB or stress urinary incontinence. A Medline literature search was performed to identify published articles or abstracts focusing on the development and psychometric validation of relevant instruments. Target populations and psychometric properties (reliability, validity, responsiveness to change) of 16 questionnaires are reviewed. A range of well-validated, condition-specific HRQL measures are available. Recommendations are provided regarding which measures to use in different situations. When choosing among instruments, psychometric evidence and the match of an instrument to the study population should be considered.