Measuring outcomes of importance to women with stress urinary incontinence.

OBJECTIVE

To provide evidence on outcomes of importance to women who have stress urinary incontinence (SUI). The secondary aim was to identify additional outcomes that ought to be collected in future primary studies or in systematic reviews of the literature.

DESIGN

Questionnaire survey of a cohort of women with SUI.

SETTING

UK.

SAMPLE

A total of 188 women with SUI.

METHODS

Areas of importance to women who suffer from SUI were assessed using a patient generated index (PGI). In addition to the PGI, the questionnaire included the King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) and the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

PGI, EQ-5D and the KHQ.

RESULTS

In total, 38 different areas were reported by respondents on the PGI. PGI and EQ-5D scores were positively correlated and significant. Correlations between the seven domains of the KHQ and PGI were all negative, but only two were statistically significant: personal relationships and severity measures.

CONCLUSIONS

The PGI succeeded in capturing a diverse range of outcomes of importance to women suffering with SUI. Given the limited correlation between the KHQ domains and the PGI and, in addition, that the areas mentioned in the PGI were not found to map well to the EQ-5D, the PGI in this instance may be capturing concerns of women who suffer from SUI, which are not captured by quality-of-life measures such as the EQ-5D.