Assessment of lower urinary tract symptoms in women by a self-administered questionnaire: Test-retest reliability

Abstract

A self-administered questionnaire assessing female lower urinary tract symptoms and their impact on quality of life is described and validated, on 56 females in six participating departments. The patients answered two identical questionnaires on separate occasions before treatment. Test-retest reliability of the questionnaire, correlation between the symptoms and their troublesomeness, and the reproducibility of this correlation were assessed. The percentage of mistakes in answers to each of the questions varied from 1.8% to 49.1%, mainly owing to missing answers in the item groups: appliances, sexual function and social activities. Test-retest showed a repeat frequency of 50.0%-91.0% for symptoms and 44.6%-82.1% for trouble. A highly significant positive correlation was found between symptoms and trouble, which was most pronounced for questions concerning pain and incontinence. This correlation was consistent within time. The primary validation of this questionnaire is good. Its relevance as a basis for medical priority and clinical decision making remains to be investigated.

Criterion validity, test‐retest reliability and sensitivity to change of the St George urinary incontinence score

“…Their median (IQR) loss on the 1-h pad test was 12 (4-28) g, indicating that their incontinence tended to be moderate [18]. The median score was 9.5/20 (2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12). Of the 207 women, one did not undergo a 1-h pad test, two did not complete a FVC and another could not estimate the frequency of her incontinent episodes because of constant leakage.…”

“…The development of the SGUIS as an outcome measure began in 1996, before the introduction of more recent urinary symptom and quality-of-life questionnaires [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. However, despite the existence of other tests, none has provided the simple scoring system encompassing leakage severity and lifestyle impact that we obtain from this test, and furthermore, none directly parallel a fecal incontinence score.…”

“…Bernstein et al [3] described a pilot study of 56 female patients completing a selfadministered questionnaire which assessed LUTS and 'bother', but it included sexual function, pain, use of appliances and quality of life. Jackson et al [4] developed the Bristol Female LUTS questionnaire to assess all LUTS, with an emphasis on incontinence and effect on quality of life.…”

“…In 1992, Lagro-Jansen et al [2] devised a 12-point score representing frequency and amount of leakage, pad usage and restriction of daily activity. More recently a range of in-depth scores was developed [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] but many are lengthy and/or need to be administered by a clinician.…”

Motor evoked potentials from the pelvic floor

“…We used an adapted and validated Danish-language version of the Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms questionnaire [Bernstein et al, 1996]. Patients were scored as symptomatic if they had any lower urinary complaint more often than weekly [Moller et al, 2000].…”