Patient preferences for clean intermittent catheterisation and transurethral indwelling catheterisation for treatment of abnormal post-void residual bladder volume after vaginal prolapse surgery.

OBJECTIVE

To determine patient preferences for clean intermittent catheterisation (CIC) relative to transurethral indwelling catheterisation (TIC) as the treatment of abnormal post-void residual bladder volume (PVR) following vaginal prolapse surgery.

DESIGN

Scenario-based preference assessment during face-to-face interview.

SETTING

Teaching hospital.

POPULATION

A sample of consecutive patients scheduled for vaginal prolapse surgery.

METHODS

Preference for CIC relative to TIC was assessed using written treatment scenarios. Initially, treatment duration was set at 3 days and the risk for urinary tract infection (UTI) was 30% for both interventions. Both treatment duration and UTI risk related to TIC were kept constant. Treatment duration and UTI risk after CIC were varied until patients altered their preference. In this way, the duration of catheterisation and level of UTI risk related to CIC at which patients would prefer CIC to TIC could be determined.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Patients' preference for CIC relative to TIC.

RESULTS

When both duration of treatment and UTI risk were identical for both interventions, 64% of patients prefer CIC. Ninety-two percent of patients prefer CIC when CIC lasts 3 days but results in a 15% lower risk of UTI. Assuming that CIC results in a 15% risk of UTI, a total of 98 and 99% of patients prefer CIC to TIC when catheterisation with CIC last 2 and 1 day, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Most patients with abnormal PVR prefer CIC to TIC. The results of a recent randomised controlled trial showed that CIC resulted in a 2 days shorter catheterisation and more than 20% reduced risk of UTI. These conditions correspond to a preference of 99% of patients for CIC.