Reproducibility study of Overactive Bladder Symptom Score questionnaire and its response to treatment (RESORT) in Korean population with overactive bladder symptoms

Clinical tools for evaluating the severity of overactive bladder: A systematic review of psychometric properties

OBJECTIVES

To systematically evaluate the evidence describing the psychometric properties of clinical measures for assessing overactive bladder symptoms (urinary urgency with or without urge urinary incontinence, urinary frequency and nocturia). To evaluate the quality of this evidence-base using the COnsensus-based Standards for selecting health status Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) checklist and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) tools.

DATA SOURCES

Five electronic databases (CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Scopus and Web of Science) were searched from dataset inception to August 2023.

REVIEW METHODS

Study screening, data extraction and quality appraisal were performed by two independent authors. Inclusion criteria were studies testing one or more psychometric properties of clinical tools for the assessment of overactive bladder symptoms among adults aged 18 years and older for both sexes. The methodological quality and quality of the evidence were evaluated using the COSMIN checklist and GRADE tools, respectively.

RESULTS

The search identified 40 studies totalling 10,634 participants evaluating the psychometric properties of 15 clinical tools. The COSMIN methodological quality was rated good for most measures, and the GRADE quality of evidence ranged from low (13%) to high (33%). The Overactive Bladder Symptom Score, Overactive Bladder Questionnaire and Neurogenic Bladder Symptom Score were of good methodological and high-GRADE evidence qualities.

CONCLUSION

Overactive Bladder Symptom Score, the Overactive Bladder Questionnaire and the Neurogenic Bladder Symptoms Score are promising psychometrically sound measures. The Overactive Bladder Symptom Score has been applied to the most culturally diverse populations supported by studies of good methodological and high-GRADE evidence quality.

Correlation between neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and overactive bladder in South Korean women: a community-based, cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

Many women with overactive bladder (OAB) do not seek medical care despite urinary symptoms. As the diagnosis and treatment of OAB are often late, there is a need to identify undiagnosed OAB patients and start effective treatment. Furthermore, an objective and appropriate screening biomarker for OAB is needed. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between serum neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and OAB in South Korean women.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional, retrospective study.

SETTING

Jeju National University Hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

This study included a total of 4394 women (mean age=48.6 years) who underwent self-referred health screenings.

INTERVENTIONS

Blood tests were conducted and the NLR was calculated by dividing the number of neutrophils by the number of lymphocytes.

OUTCOME MEASURES

The severity of OAB was evaluated using the OAB Symptom Score (OABSS).

RESULTS

Approximately 9.8% of participants (n=432) were diagnosed with OAB. The association pattern between the NLR and urinary tract symptoms was variable; however, NLR was associated with OAB, by the OABSS and OAB severity (p<0.001). The NLR had a significant relationship with OAB after age, body mass index, homoeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, stress status, and medication for hypertension (OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.32) were adjusted.

CONCLUSIONS

Elevated NLR is associated with OAB; hence, NLR may be a cost-effective and readily available biomarker of OAB in women.

Comprehensive Review of Effective Application of Questionnaires for Clinical Research on Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms With Translation and Cultural Adaptation to the Korean Language

Lower urinary tract symptoms are highly prevalent and closely related to patients' quality of life. Clinical research on urologic disease is essential for accumulating evidence on patient management; however, the major obstacle is converting patients' subjective symptoms to objective parameters. The optimal application of well-developed and validated questionnaires is vital in achieving objectivity and minimizing bias in clinical research. Numerous questionnaires for measuring symptoms and quality of life in urologic diseases have been developed worldwide; however, they cannot be directly used in clinical studies without validation processes. This review aimed to explain the common procedures for translation, linguistic, and psychometric validation of developed questionnaires from other languages. Furthermore, we comprehensively reviewed currently available questionnaires for evaluating lower urinary tract symptoms in the Korean population.

The impact of overactive bladder on health-related quality of life in Korea: based on the results of a Korean Community Health Survey

PURPOSE

This study aimed to assess the impact of overactive bladder on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a community-based sample of Korean population.

METHODS

The data of adults aged 19 and over that who participated in the 2012 Korean Community Health Survey were analyzed. Overactive bladder severity was classified as normal, mild, moderate, or severe using the Overactive Bladder Symptom scores, and HRQoL was evaluated using EQ-5D-3L. Relations between HRQoL and the severities and symptoms of OAB were investigated. Sampling weighted adjusted multiple regression analysis was performed to determine the effect of OAB symptom severity on HRQoL.

RESULTS

Of the 226,867 study subjects, 12,303 (5.4%) had OAB, and 552 (0.2%) had an OABSS of ≥ 12, indicating severe OAB. The problem -reporting rate significantly increased in all EQ-5D-3L dimensions as OAB severity increased. After adjusting for other variables, OAB severity had a significant effect on EQ-5D-3L index. Urge incontinence had greatest impact on quality of life.

CONCLUSIONS

As the severity of OAB increased from mild to severe, quality of life decreased significantly. OAB was found to negatively affect HRQoL.

Development and validation of Sasang Urination and Defecation Inventory (SUDI) for pathophysiological symptoms of Sasang typology

Background

The pathophysiological symptom of Sasang typology is essential for getting clinical diagnosis and analyzing treatment effects. The clinical index for examining urination and defecation related symptoms were developed and validated with established clinical measures.

Methods

Questionnaire items of six subscales of Sasang Urination and Defecation Inventory (SUDI) were developed based on previous systematic reviews, and its clinical validity was examined with clinical measures of Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 (UDI-6), Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OBSS), and ROME 3 criteria for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (ROME3-IBS) and Functional Constipation (ROME3-FC) using 48 healthy participants. The internal consistency of six subscales of SUDI were examined with Cronbach alpha. The Pearson correlation was used to examine correlation between SUDI and Western clinical measures, and the ANOVA was adopted to investigate differences among Sasang type groups in clinical measures.

Results

The SUDI-UCHR (problematic characteristics of urine) and SUDI-ANMD (defecation anomaly discomfort) were found to represent unique concept of traditional Korean medicine, however SUDI-IRRB (irritability of bowel movement) and SUDI-FCON (functional constipation) were similar with functional gastrointestinal disease of western medicine. SUDI-URET (ability to retain urine), SUDI-UDIS (urinary discomfort) and SUDI-ANMD of So-Yang type (7.95 ± 2.16, 14.33 ± 2.01, and 13.10 ± 2.57) are significantly different from those of So-Eum type (9.94 ± 2.54, 12.18 ± 2.96, and 10.59 ± 3.47, respectively).

Conclusion

The pathophysiological symptoms of urination and defecation in Sasang typology were systematically scrutinized, and summarized into six subscales of SUDI in this study. The SUDI would be useful for analyzing clinical symptoms of Sasang typology along with integrative collaboration of traditional Korean and Western medicine.

Overactive Bladder Symptom Scores responsiveness before and after anticholinergic treatment in women with overactive bladder: The pilot study

AIM

The aims of this study were: (i) to evaluate change of Overactive Bladder Symptom Scores (OABSS) from before to after solifenacin treatment; and (ii) to evaluate correlation between change of OABSS and 3-day micturition diary, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and Patient Perception of Bladder Condition (PPBC).

METHODS

Thirty-six women, aged > 18 years, diagnosed as having overactive bladder (OAB) at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, with the symptoms of urgency, frequency with or without urge incontinence for more than 3 months, and at least three episodes of urgency with or without incontinence during the last 3 days prior to the study, were recruited during January 2010-May 2011. All cases received solifenacin 5-mg treatment once a day and were asked to record a 3-day micturition diary and to complete the Thai version of the OABSS, IPSS, and PPBC questionnaires at weeks 0, 4, and 12 after treatment.

RESULTS

The OABSS, IPSS, and PPBC scores and all parameters of the 3-day micturition diary had changed significantly by weeks 4 and 12. The OABSS correlated significantly with IPSS score (r = 0.44), PPBC score (r = 0.39), and urgency episodes (r = 0.48).

CONCLUSION

The OABSS had good responsiveness, similar to the other questionnaires (the IPSS and PPBC) and the 3-day micturition diary. The use of OABSS is recommended in OAB women for evaluation after anticholinergic drug treatment.

Efficacy and Tolerability of Solifenacin 5 mg Fixed Dose in Korean Children with Newly Diagnosed Idiopathic Overactive Bladder: a Multicenter Prospective Study

We investigated the efficacy and tolerability of solifenacin 5 mg fixed dose in children with newly diagnosed idiopathic overactive bladder (OAB). A total of 34 children (male/female patients = 16/18) aged under 13 years (mean age: 7.2 ± 2.3; range: 5-12) who were newly diagnosed with OAB from January 2012 to September 2014 were prospectively evaluated with open-label protocol. All patients were treated with solifenacin 5 mg fixed dose once daily for at least 4 weeks. The efficacy and tolerability of solifenacin were evaluated 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the initiation of treatment. The mean voiding frequency during daytime was decreased from 9.4 ± 3.0 to 6.5 ± 2.3 times after the 12-week treatment (P < 0.001). The mean total OAB symptom score (OABSS) decreased from 7.7 ± 4.2 to 3.1 ± 3.1 after the 12-week treatment (P < 0.001). The urgency and urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) domains significantly improved from the 12-week treatment, and complete resolution of urgency occurred in 38.9% of patients and the percentage of children with UUI among urgent patients decreased from 79.4% to 57.1%. According to 3-day voiding diaries, the average bladder capacity increased from 90.4 ± 44.4 to 156.2 ± 67.3 mL (P < 0.001). Drug-induced adverse effects (AEs) were reported in 7 patients (20.6%). Our results indicate that solifenacin 5 mg fixed dose is effective against OAB symptoms, and its tolerability is acceptable without significant AEs in children with OAB.

Psychometric validation of the English version of the overactive bladder symptom score

OBJECTIVE

To assess the psychometric properties of the English version of the overactive bladder symptom score (OABSS) among overactive bladder (OAB) patients in the United States.

METHODS

The reliability and validity of the OABSS were examined using data collected online from OAB patients residing in the United States.

RESULTS

A total of 199 patients responded to the first questionnaire administration. Of those, 149 completed the second questionnaire. The results of the reliability assessment indicated that the intraclass correlation coefficient of the total OABSS score was 0.74 (weighted kappa coefficients of individual item score, 0.55-0.84) and that the Cronbach α coefficient was 0.56. In the analysis of the validity, the OABSS total score was correlated with all the external criteria (symptom bother of the overactive bladder questionnaire, patient perception of bladder condition, and International Prostate Symptom Score) to a moderate to strong degree. The results of known-group validity showed that the OABSS score tended to increase as the symptom severity increased (trend test; P<.0001).

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrated the reliability and validity of the English version of the OABSS. It is expected that the English version of the OABSS will be useful in clinical studies and medical practice among English-speaking OAB patients.