What is a clinician to do-believe the patient or her urinary diary?
OBJECTIVE
We determined if patient recall of incontinence episodes correlates with urinary diary record.


METHODS
Women with 1 or more urge incontinence episode per week completed 2, 7-day diaries, the Urinary Distress Inventory and Incontinence Impact Questionnaire, and responded to 2 recall questions.


RESULTS
The median number of incontinence episodes participants recalled (6.5, 5) was higher than those recorded in the diary (1.9, 1.1) at both points. Incontinence episodes in 2, 7-day diaries correlated strongly (rho = 0.921, p <0.005) while participant recall of incontinence episodes correlated weakly (rho = 0.309, p <0.059). When subjects reported being only slightly or not bothered by urge incontinence, recall and diary record correlated strongly (rho = 0.812, p = 0.014). With increasing bother (moderate or great), recall and diary were not significantly correlated (rho = 0.528, p = 0.115).


CONCLUSIONS
Women with urge incontinence either overestimate or under record incontinence episode frequency in the urinary diary. This effect is more pronounced in women who are more bothered by incontinence.
Kenton
Kimberly
K
Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois 60153, USA. kkenton@lumc.edu
Fitzgerald
Mary Pat
MP
Brubaker
Linda
L
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D011939:Mental Recall; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000175:diagnosis*