METHODS: Two qualitative studies were conducted among participants with OAB symptoms. For both studies, participants were interviewed on the USS to ascertain their ability to complete and interpret each response. Study 2 included open-ended questions to explore the concept of urgency with participants asked to describe "normal urge" and "urgency."
RESULTS: Thirty-one men and women (Study 1, n = 12; Study 2, n = 19) participated. Nearly all participants (n = 29) thought the word descriptions for the 1-5 scale were easy to comprehend and were able to differentiate among ratings by degree of severity. Study 2 noted little difference between continent (n = 9) and incontinent (n = 10) participant descriptions of "urge or desire to urinate" and "typical sensation." The majority of the continent (n = 6) and incontinent (n = 7) participants stated they have both "regular" sensations to urinate and "urgent" sensations to urinate.
CONCLUSIONS: This qualitative research provides evidence that men and women with OAB symptoms can distinguish between "normal" urge (desire) to urinate and "urgency" suggesting that urinary urgency is a continuum, rather than an all-or-none phenomenon. The USS demonstrated content validity and was acceptable to patients.
Written by:
Coyne KS, Harding G, Jumadilova Z, Weiss JP. Are you the author?
United BioSource Corporation, Bethesda, Maryland.
Reference: Neurourol Urodyn. 2012 Jan 24. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1002/nau.21242
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 22275170
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