Abstract
Introduction and hypothesis
This study aims to measure self-report urinary incontinence questions’ reproducibility and agreement with bladder diary.
Methods
Data were analyzed from the Reproductive Risk of Incontinence Study at Kaiser. Participating women reporting at least weekly incontinence completed self-report incontinence questions and a 7-day bladder diary. Self-report question reproducibility was assessed and agreement between self-reported and diary-recorded voiding and incontinence frequency was measured. Test characteristics and area under the curve were calculated for self-reported incontinence types using diary as the gold standard.
Results
Five hundred ninety-one women were included and 425 completed a diary. The self-report questions had moderate reproducibility and self-reported and diary-recorded incontinence and voiding frequencies had moderate to good agreement. Self-reported incontinence types identified stress and urgency incontinence more accurately than mixed incontinence.
Conclusions
Self-report incontinence questions have moderate reproducibility and agreement with diary, and considering their minimal burden, are acceptable research tools in epidemiologic studies.
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Acknowledgments
The Reproductive Risks of Incontinence Study at Kaiser was funded by the National Institutes of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) grant #5 R01 DK53335 and the NIDDK/Office of Research on Women’s Health Specialized Center of Research grant #P50 DK064538. Additional support included grant 5 K23 HD047654 (CSB) from the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development.
Financial disclaimer/Conflict of interest
CS Bradley received research support from Pfizer and is a Consultant for Astellas/GSK. JS Brown also received research support from Pfizer. SK Eeden received research support from GSK. M Schembri, A Ragins, and DH Thom have nothing to disclose.
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Appendix. Self-report incontinence questions
Appendix. Self-report incontinence questions
Question used to identify “single question” self-reported incontinence type:
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1.
During the past 7 days, did you accidentally leak urine most often with? (Check one box only.)
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□ an activity like coughing, lifting, sneezing or exercise
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□ following a physical sense of urgency that you were going to urinate
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□ neither an activity nor a sense of urgency
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□ about equally often with an activity or with a sense of urgency
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Questions used to identify “3 question” self-reported incontinence type:
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1.
During the past 7 days, how many times total did you accidentally leak urine with an activity like coughing, lifting, sneezing or exercise? _____
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2.
During the past 7 days, how many times total did you accidentally leak urine with a physical sense of urgency? (Urgency is defined as a strong urge or pressure to urinate.) _____
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3.
During the past 7 days, how many times total did you accidentally leak urine without a sense of urgency and without an activity like coughing, lifting, sneezing or exercise? _____
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Bradley, C.S., Brown, J.S., Van Den Eeden, S.K. et al. Urinary incontinence self-report questions: reproducibility and agreement with bladder diary. Int Urogynecol J 22, 1565–1571 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-011-1503-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00192-011-1503-3