Abstract
Objectives. To assess, by means of a survey, the impact of the symptoms of overactive
bladder (urinary frequency, urgency, and urge incontinence) on the quality of life
in a community-based sample of the U.S. population.
Methods. A telephone survey was conducted in the United States among an age and sex-stratified
sample of 4896 noninstitutionalized adults 18 years of age and older. From the responses
to the telephone survey, a total of 483 individuals with symptoms of overactive bladder
and 191 controls completed a mailed follow-up questionnaire to assess their quality
of life using the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 20.
Results. After adjustment for age, sex, and the use of medical care, the greatest
differences in the quality-of-life scores between the patients with incontinent overactive
bladders and the controls were in the health perception (17.6 points; P <0.001) and role functioning (13.0 points; P <0.001) scales. Those with an overactive bladder with the symptoms of frequency or
urgency, or both, but without incontinence, also had significantly lower scores than
did the controls in mental health (P = 0.026), health perception (P = 0.01), and bodily pain (P = 0.016).
Conclusions. These data indicate that individuals with an overactive bladder experience
decrements in their quality of life relative to community controls. An important new
finding from this study is that individuals with an overactive bladder, even without
demonstrable urine loss, also have a poorer quality of life than that of controls.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to UrologyAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- The urge syndrome.in: Mundy A.R Stephenson T.P Wein A.J Urodynamics Principles, Practice and Applications. Churchill Livingstone, New York1984: 212-228
- The influence of urinary incontinence on the quality of life of elderly women.Age Ageing. 1993; 22: 82-89
- Psychosocial impact of urinary incontinence in women.Obstet Gynecol. 1987; 70: 378-380
- Epidemiology and psychosocial aspects of incontinence.Urol Clin North Am. 1995; 22: 481-485
- Urinary incontinence and psychological distress among older adults.Psychol Aging. 1988; 3: 115-121
- The quality of life of older adults with urinary incontinence.Qual Life Res. 1998; 7: 337-344
- Relationship between patient reports of urinary incontinence symptoms and quality of life measures.Obstet Gynecol. 1998; 91: 224-228
- The impact of urge urinary incontinence on quality of life.J Am Geriatr Soc. 1998; 46: 683-692
- Overactive bladder.Urology. 1998; 51 (letter): 106
- The overactive bladder.Int J Fertil. 1999; 44: 56-66
- Effect of domperidone on the health-related quality of life of patients with symptoms of diabetic gastroparesis.Diabetes Care. 1998; 21: 1699-1706
- The Overactive Bladder. Erik Sparr Medical AB, Sweden1998
- The MOS Short-Form General Health Survey.Med Care. 1988; 26: 724-735
- Quality of life.Scand J Gastroenterol Suppl. 1996; 221: 14-17
- Linking outcomes management to quality-of-life measurement.Oncology. 1997; 11: 232-235
- Trial-related quality of life.J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 1996; 20: 1-6
- SF-36 Health Survey. Health Institute of New England Medical Center, Boston1993
- The effects of urinary incontinence in women.Int Rehabil Med. 1982; 4: 9-14
- The association of urinary incontinence with poor self-rated health.J Am Geriatr Soc. 1998; 46: 693-699
- Health-related quality of life in chronic disorders.Qual Life Res. 1998; 7: 57-65
- The willingness to pay for reduced incontinence problem.Br J Urol. 1997; 80: 557-562
- Developing and testing the MOS 20-item Short-Form Health Survey.in: Stewart A.L Ware Jr, J.E Measuring Functioning and Well-Being The Medical Outcomes Study Approach. Duke University Press, Durham, North Carolina1992: 277-290
- Functional status and well-being of patients with chronic conditions.JAMA. 1989; 262: 907-913
- Medical correlates of urinary incontinence in the elderly.Urology. 1990; 36: 129-138
- Assessing the impact of comorbidity in the older population.Ann Epidemiol. 1996; 6: 376-380
- Standardization of terminology of lower urinary tract function.Neurourol Urodyn. 1988; 7: 403-427
- Diagnosis and significance of idiopathic overactive bladder.Urology. 1997; 50: 25-32
Article Info
Publication History
Accepted:
February 12,
2001
Received in revised form:
February 12,
2001
Received:
July 3,
2000
Footnotes
☆This research was funded by Pharmacia Corporation. A. J. Wein, A. R. Herzog, and A. C. Diokno are paid consultants to the sponsor of this study.
Identification
Copyright
© 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
