Quality of life and continence 1 year after the tension-free vaginal tape operation.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in condition-specific and generic quality of life (QOL) and continence rates 1 year after the tension-free vaginal tape (TVT) operation for stress urinary incontinence.


METHODS
A total of 99 patients undergoing the TVT operation underwent clinical and urodynamic assessment and completed the German language King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ) and the Short Form 36 (SF-36) before and 3 and 12 months after surgery. Overall, 72 TVTs were performed as isolated procedure and 27 in combination with other operations. Data were analyzed with the Chi-square test, analyses of variance, and the Tukey test.


RESULTS
Overall, the objective continence rate was 80% at 1 year and did not differ significantly between patients with or without concomitant surgery. Significant and clinically relevant (>10 points) improvements were seen in all domains of the KHQ except General Health perception. The SF-36 showed statistically significant but not clinically significant improvement.


CONCLUSIONS
The TVT operation is associated with improved condition-specific QOL in women with stress urinary incontinence. The condition-specific KHQ is more appropriate than the generic SF-36 for evaluating treatment results in women treated for incontinence.
Bjelic-Radisic
Vesna
V
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Dorfer
Martha
M
Greimel
Elfriede
E
Frudinger
Andrea
A
Tamussino
Karl
K
Winter
Raimund
R
D000368:Aged; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D053832:Surgical Tape; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D014563:Urodynamics; D013520:Urologic Surgical Procedures