title: Follow up of surgical repair of female pelvic floor disorders by a mailed questionnaire.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study was conducted to determine whether surgical repair of pelvic prolapse enhances patients' quality of life (QOL) in the long term.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 91 patients (median age, 68.0 years) with pelvic prolapse including cystoceles underwent bladder neck suspension with anterior/posterior colporrhaphy between 1997 and 2003. Postoperative QOL was longitudinally assessed by three disease-specific items (sensation of vaginal bulging, obstructive symptoms, urinary incontinence), and one overall health-related QOL (HR-QOL) item.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A longitudinal study demonstrated that a significant improvement in these symptoms was sustained at a median follow up of 65.5 months, although poor HR-QOL was significantly higher in patients whose age was more than 70 years at surgery (P = 0.0234, Fisher's test). Multivariate analysis revealed update urinary incontinence, update obstructive symptoms, and basic comorbidity to be independent prognostic factors for predicting postoperative moderate-to-poor HR-QOL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Longer follow up with adequate assessment of patients' QOL may be crucial for the management of postoperative patients, in particular those having basic comorbidity and aged 70 years or more at surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Ube, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideyasu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsuyama
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirata
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomimatsu
authors.forename: Gen-ichro
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Yamakawa
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tatsumura
authors.forename: Katsusuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Naito
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017773:Pelvic Floor / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D013519:Urogenital Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D014596:Uterine Prolapse / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*