title: ICIQ symptom and quality of life instruments measure clinically relevant improvements in women with stress urinary incontinence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether changes in questionnaire scores on symptoms and condition-specific quality of life reflect clinically relevant improvements in women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI).
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively analyzed questionnaires collected during a randomized controlled trial in women with SUI, that received pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) in two different formats. We included 218 women that answered validated self-assessment questionnaires at baseline and at a 4-month follow-up. We registered changes on two questionnaires, the International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF) and the Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Quality of Life (ICIQ-LUTSqol). We compared these score changes to responses from the Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI-I) questionnaire. Differences were analyzed with the Spearman rho and one-way-ANOVA. The minimum important difference (MID) was the mean change in score for women that experienced a small improvement.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The PGI-I correlated significantly to both the ICIQ-UI SF (r = 0.547, P < 0.0001) and ICIQ-LUTSqol (r = 0.520, P < 0.0001). Thus, larger reductions in symptoms or quality of life scores were associated with greater impressions of improvement. The changes in ICIQ-UI SF and ICIQ-LUTSqol scores were significant across all PGI-I groups from "no change" to "very much improved" (P < 0.05). The MIDs were 2.52 (SD 2.56) for ICIQ-UI SF and 3.71 (SD 4.95) for ICIQ-LUTSqol.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The change in ICIQ-UI SF and ICIQ-LUTSqol scores after PFMT reflected clinically relevant improvements in women with SUI. The MIDs established for this population may facilitate future research, treatment evaluations, and comparisons between studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nyström
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Unit of Clinical Research Center - Östersund, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sjöström
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stenlund
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Samuelsson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017773:Pelvic Floor / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ICIQ-LUTSqol; ICIQ-UI SF; PGI-I; minimum important difference; pelvic floor muscle training; stress urinary incontinence