Patient satisfaction with the benefits of overactive bladder treatment: exploration of influencing factors and development of a satisfaction assessment instrument.
BACKGROUND
Patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments are useful for assessing treatment success in patients with overactive bladder (OAB). PROs such as the OAB Questionnaire (OAB-q) and Patient Perception of Bladder Condition (PPBC) focus more on OAB symptoms than satisfaction. We describe the development of the Patient Satisfaction with Treatment Benefit (PSTB) questionnaire, and examine the face, content and criterion validity of this tool in a study of darifenacin treatment in OAB patients who expressed dissatisfaction with prior antimuscarinic therapy.


METHODS
The PSTB questionnaire was created based on treatment-related items identified as relevant to OAB patients in exploratory interviews, then refined to comprise an Overall Satisfaction question and 23 items addressing specific treatment benefits using a 5-point Likert scale. The PSTB questionnaire was completed at last visit by 473 patients participating in an open-label, 12-week study of darifenacin treatment. Factors driving Overall Satisfaction were explored by investigating its relationship to PPBC, bladder symptom diaries and specific benefits assessed by the PSTB.


RESULTS
At study end, mean Overall Satisfaction score was 3.1, corresponding to "satisfied." Overall Satisfaction correlated strongly with each specific benefit in the PSTB, and with PPBC and OAB symptoms at last visit, but more weakly with change from baseline PPBC/symptoms. Satisfaction at last visit was higher for patients with mild/moderate versus severe problems on baseline PPBC.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients' reported satisfaction appears to reflect their current status rather than improvement over time. The PSTB tool may have a place alongside other symptom-based instruments. Further testing is required to validate these findings.
Zinner
Norman
N
Western Clinical Research, Inc., Torrance, California 90505, USA. wewedoc@aol.com
Kobashi
Kathleen
K
Koochaki
Patricia
P
Fix
Deborah
D
Egermark
Mathias
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011759:Pyrrolidines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D053201:Urinary Bladder, Overactive / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology
D001572:Benzofurans; D018727:Muscarinic Antagonists; D011759:Pyrrolidines; C101207:darifenacin