Data abstraction was conducted to identify eligible participants who completed 12 weeks of their initial therapy and moved into the subsequent maintenance phase from January 2014 to August 2017. Patients 80 years or older who reported an improvement in symptoms were included in the study.
A total number of nineteen subjects were eligible for the study with a mean age of 84.2 years. Fourteen out of nineteen (74%) participants have completed their initial 12 week therapy with 32% continuing with the maintenance sessions. More than 63% of elderly patients have reported an improvement in symptoms (Figure 1).
The study identified the following reasons behind poor compliance: lack of improvement in symptoms (8 patients) after initial and/or maintenance therapy, complex co-morbidities, and moving to another state. Some patients chose other treatment options due to the perceived ineffectiveness of PTNS.
Although the majority of the study population followed PTNS protocol, more research is needed to understand the low compliance rate in the elderly population.
Presented by: William T. Berg, MD. Stony Brook Hospital, Department of Urology
Co-authors: Chris Du, BA, Stony Brook School of Medicine, Alexandra Siegal, BA, Stony Brook School of Medicine, Zhenyue Huang, BA, Stony Brook School of Medicine, Colin Dabrowski, BS, Stony Brook School of Medicine, Steven Weissbart, MD, Stony Brook Hospital, Department of Urology, Jason Kim, MD, Stony Brook Hospital, Department of Urology
Written by: Hanna Stambakio, BS, Clinical Research Coordinator, Division of Urology, University of Pennsylvania Twitter: @AStambakio at the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction Winter Meeting, SUFU 2019, February 26 - March 2, 2019, Miami, Florida