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.
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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.
