The International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form as a Substitute for 1-Hour Pad Weight Testing in the Evaluation of Urinary Incontinence in Patients With Pelvic Organ Prolapse Undergoing Surgery.

PURPOSE

Stress urinary incontinence is a postoperative complication occurring in patients with pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Although the 1-hour pad test measures the degree of urinary incontinence qualitatively and quantitatively, some elderly women undergoing POP surgery do not have the daily activities of living to perform the pad test. Therefore, we examined whether the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire Short Form (ICIQ-SF) could be used as an alternative tool for pad tests.

METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated 132 patients with POP. In our hospital, 57 patients were treated by laparoscopic sacrocolpopexy (LSC), whereas 75 were treated by transvaginal mesh surgery (TVM). We measured the changes in symptoms preand postoperatively using the ICIQ-SF and 1-hour pad weight testing, and investigated the correlation between the total plus component question scores of the ICIQ-SF and 1-hour pad weight.

RESULTS

The preoperative ICIQ total scores in all patients decreased significantly as the amount of leakage on the 1-hour pad weight decreased. The component question scores also decreased significantly with decreasing levels of 1-hour pad weight. The LSC and TVM groups had decreased ICIQ-SF total and component question scores as pad weight decreased. At 12 months postoperatively, the ICIQ total scores in all patients significantly declined as the amount of leakage on the 1-hour pad weight decreased. In the LSC group, the ICIQ-SF total and component question scores also decreased with decreased pad weight, but the differences were not always significant between ICIQ scores and pad weight. In the TVM group, the ICIQ-SF total and component question scores also significantly decreased as the pad weight decreased.

CONCLUSION

The ICIQ-SF could be an appropriate substitute for the 1-hour pad weight testing in predicting the severity of urinary incontinence. In the future, we hope to predict the level of urine leakage based on the ICIQ-SF score.