Compliance with recommendations of the urodynamic society for standards of efficacy for evaluation of treatment outcomes in urinary incontinence

Abstract

The Urodynamic Society (US) published (1997) minimal standards to assess the efficacy of therapy for urinary incontinence (UI). The standards were developed by a US committee and were approved by the American Urological Society. The objective of our study was to evaluate compliance with these standards in recent UI research studies. A MEDLINE search was conducted for all articles in which outcomes of treatment for UI were reported (November, 1997-October, 1999). Reported data were compared with the recommended minimum standards including pre- and posttreatment data. Compliance rates for each data field were calculated by percentages for (1) the individual article and (2) overall compliance rate among all articles. A total of 39 articles that reported treatment for UI were selected. The treatments included various surgical procedures, injectables, pharmacologic treatments, and mechanical valves. Overall compliance for each article varied between 0% and 100%. Only one article met all 100% of the recommendations and one met none. The overall mean compliance rate for each article was 29%. We conclude that there is far less than optimal reporting of outcomes for treatment of UI per the recommendations of the Urodynamic Society. This low compliance makes standardized evaluation of treatment outcomes of UI difficult if not impossible. We suggest that initiation of funded cooperative clinical trials may improve the standardization in UI.

Adherence to professional society guidelines among women with stress or mixed urinary incontinence

“…Prior studies of guideline adherence in the context of UI are less recent and conducted during a short time frame 18,19 . This longitudinal study provides an analysis of adherence to the most recent professional guidance for UI evaluation and treatment.…”

“…Lee and colleagues (2002) sought to assess guideline compliance through a literature search assessing the rate of compliance with the minimal standard recommendations of the Urodynamic Society (currently SUFU). This study found that the overall mean compliance rate reported in each study was 29% and concluded that low compliance rates, due to a lack of standardization, result in the inability to accurately evaluate treatment outcomes for patients with UI 18 . To further evaluate costs related to guideline adherence, Wilson and colleagues (2001) estimated the annual direct cost of UI using diagnostic and treatment algorithms from published practice guidelines.…”

Synthetic sling options for stress urinary incontinence

“…In a review of articles addressing urinary incontinence, it was found that the mean compliance with all of the standards was only 29% [16]. The method of data collection has been noted to influence outcomes [8•].…”

Overactive Bladder and Continence Guidelines: implementation, inaction or frustration?

“…An assessment of compliance with recommendations of the Urodynamic Society for Standards of Efficacy for Evaluation of Treatment Outcomes in Urinary Incontinence showed very poor outcomes reporting (10). The recommendations were felt to be too cumbersome and difficult to follow in clinical practice, standards were not perceived as reasonable or essential and awareness about following the minimal standards was low.…”