[Propiverine hydrochloride improved correlatively subjective QOL and objective findings in Japanese patients with urinary frequency and/or incontinence].

To investigate how urinary frequency and incontinence affect the patient's subjective quality of life (QOL) and whether an improvement in objective findings by medical treatment affects his/her subjective QOL, a voiding diary using the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF) was delivered to patients with urinary frequency and/or incontinence before and after treatment with propiverine hydrochloride for 8 weeks. Sixty-eight patients completed the diary and the questionnaires. Objective symptoms decreased significantly with respect to the mean frequency of urination and to the mean incidence of urinary incontinence. The KHQ and ICIQ-SF scores improved significantly with respect to all domains except personal relationships in the KHQ. In the KHQ, furthermore, a significant correlation was found between decreased incidence of urinary incontinence and improvement in role limitations and between decreased incidence of urinary incontinence and improvement in emotional problems. In the ICIQ-SF, a significant correlation was found between decreased incidence of urinary frequency and subjective improvement in quantity of leakage, between decreased incidence of urinary frequency and improvement in subjective QOL scores, between decreased incidence of urinary frequency and improvement in the total ICIQ-SF score, and between decreased incidence of urinary incontinence and improvement in subjective QOL scores. Thirty-two episodes of adverse reactions were observed. None of them were serious. These results suggest that an improvement in objective symptoms with propiverine hydrochloride favorably improves subjective QOL of the patient, and provide further evidence about the safety and efficacy of propiverine hydrochloride.