Self-reported pad use per day reflects patient quality of life after pubovaginal sling surgery.
OBJECTIVE
We hypothesized that self-reported pad use per day (PPD) after pubovaginal sling (PVS) correlated with postoperative quality of life (QOL) scores.


METHODS
Two hundred fifteen women completed the incontinence impact questionnaire 7 (IIQ-7) and urogenital distress inventory 6 (UDI-6) before PVS and during follow-up. Starting 3 days before a visit, women recorded the number of protective urinary pad changes per day. Analysis of variance and Pearson correlation tests were used to determine if women reporting zero, one, or greater than or equal to two urinary pads per day after PVS had significantly different changes in baseline QOL scores.


RESULTS
Over a mean 8.5 months follow-up after PVS, 131, 56, and 28 women reported zero, one, and greater than or equal to two pad changes/day. Each pad group showed progressively less improvement from baseline IIQ-7 and UDI-6 scores after PVS. Change in IIQ-7 and UDI-6 scores negatively correlated with PPD (p < 0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Self-reported PPD after PVS reflects patient perception of urinary-specific QOL.
Stoffel
John T
JT
Department of Urology, Lahey Clinic, Burlington, MA 01805, USA. john_t_stoffel@lahey.org
Smith
Gjange
G
Crivellaro
Simone
S
Smith
John J
JJ
Bresette
John F
JF
D023381:Endpoint Determination; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D013509:Gynecologic Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016496:Incontinence Pads / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012650:Self Disclosure; D053825:Suburethral Slings; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000601:surgery*