Patient characteristics impacting health state index scores, measured by the EQ-5D of females with stress urinary incontinence symptoms.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the characteristics of women seeking treatment for symptoms of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and to investigate the association of SUI symptoms with generic health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as measured by the EuroQol (EQ-5D) instrument.


METHODS
The Stress Urinary Incontinence Treatment (SUIT) study was a 12-month observational study in four European countries that evaluated the cost-effectiveness of duloxetine compared with other forms of nonsurgical intervention in the treatment of the symptoms of SUI. Four hundred thirty-one physicians observed women seeking treatment for their SUI, and recorded the care provided and the outcomes of that care at enrollment and at 3, 6 and 12 months afterward The impact of SUI on baseline HRQoL as expressed by the EQ-5D index score was assessed by linear and logistic regression.


RESULTS
Three thousand seven hundred sixty-two women were enrolled into SUIT, with the largest patient group from Germany. Overall, the majority of women were postmenopausal, had a mean age of 58.0 years, were not current smokers, and tended to be overweight (mean body mass index [BMI]=27.7 kg/m2), with at least one comorbidity. The health state index scores were significantly and independently influenced by the presence of comorbidity(ies) affecting quality of life, total number of stress and urge incontinence episodes, urinary incontinence subtype, comorbidity(ies) affecting incontinence, BMI, socioeconomic status, educational status, age, and country.


CONCLUSIONS
This article describes the characteristics of patients at the SUIT enrollment visit, and demonstrates that the number of incontinence episodes has a significant impact on the EQ-5D index score.
Tincello
Douglas
D
University of Leicester, Leicester, UK. dgt4@leicester.ac.uk
Sculpher
Mark
M
Tunn
Ralf
R
Quail
Deborah
D
van der Vaart
Huub
H
Falconer
Christian
C
Manning
Martina
M
Timlin
Louise
L
D050034:Antidiuretic Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015897:Comorbidity; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D000068736:Duloxetine Hydrochloride; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D013876:Thiophenes / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000191:economics / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy
D050034:Antidiuretic Agents; D013876:Thiophenes; D000068736:Duloxetine Hydrochloride