title: The Incontinence Outcome Questionnaire: an instrument for assessing patient-reported outcomes after surgery for stress urinary incontinence.
abstract: The aim of this study is to develop and psychometrically test a questionnaire (Incontinence Outcome Questionnaire, IOQ) for assessing quality of life (QOL) after surgery for stress urinary incontinence that can be used as a single measurement after the intervention. A total of 171 patients who underwent the tension-free vaginal tape (TVT/TVT-O) operation for stress urinary incontinence completed the King s Health Questionnaire (KHQ), the Short Form-12 (SF-12) and the IOQ. The internal consistency, internal and external validity and responsiveness of the IOQ were tested. The IOQ-QOL subscale showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.83) and significant correlations with the KHQ and the SF-12 scales (r=0.30-0.56). Partial correlations with objective parameters showed a significant relation for the IOQ-QOL subscale with objective continence/incontinence. The results of our study suggest that the IOQ is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing QOL after incontinence surgery and can be used if baseline or pre-operative data are unavailable.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 14, Graz, 8036, Austria. vesna.bjelic-radisic@klinikum-graz.at
authors.forename: Vesna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bjelic-Radisic
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dorfer
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamussino
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frudinger
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kern
authors.forename: Raimund
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Winter
authors.forename: Elfriede
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Greimel
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D053825:Suburethral Slings; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000601:surgery*