title: A Comparison of Health-Related Quality of Life of Women Awaiting Pelvic Organ Prolapse Surgery versus Hip or Knee Replacement.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) can significantly decrease the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of women. In 2005, provincial and territorial wait time benchmarks were set in areas such as hip and knee replacement, but such efforts were lagging for urogynaecological surgeries. This study aimed to compare wait times and HRQOL scores of females awaiting surgery for POP with those of women awaiting hip or knee replacement.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a prospectively planned study comparing women undergoing surgical repair of POP to women having a hip or knee replacement. All women completed a validated HRQOL questionnaire, the Short Form 36 Health Survey. The date of the decision to operate was recorded and patients were followed up prospectively to determine surgical wait time.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three of four physical health concepts were significantly worse for orthopedic patients compared with urogynaecology patients, including the physical component summary (29.2 vs. 41.5, respectively, P < 0.001). Urogynaecology and orthopedic patients had similar emotional and mental well-being, as demonstrated by similar mental component summaries (41.5 vs. 44.6, respectively, P = 0.09). The mean wait time at our institution for hip or knee replacement was 98 days, which was significantly shorter than the mean wait time of 210 days for POP surgery (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite less physical and pain impact, urogynaecology patients showed similar emotional distress and mental impact compared with orthopedic patients based on a validated HRQOL questionnaire. Because urogynaecology patients waited more than twice as long for their surgery, resources should be directed to prioritize and improve the surgical wait time for urogynaecology patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Urogynaecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON; Division of Urogynaecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, London Health Sciences Centre, Western University, London, ON. Electronic address: Yvonne.Leong@lhsc.on.ca.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Leong
authors.affiliation: Division of Urogynaecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan.
authors.forename: Sayoko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kotani
authors.affiliation: Division of Urogynaecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Halton Healthcare Services, Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, Oakville, ON; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Best
authors.affiliation: Division of Urogynaecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
authors.forename: Phaedra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Diamond
authors.affiliation: Division of Urogynaecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
authors.forename: Danny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lovatsis
authors.affiliation: Division of Urogynaecology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON.
authors.forename: Harold
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Drutz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000523:psychology*; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000523:psychology*; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain; D056887:Pelvic Organ Prolapse / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000601:surgery*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D061665:Time-to-Treatment
keywords: Quality of life; pelvic organ prolapse; waiting lists