Abstract
Purpose:We describe the item development and cognitive evaluation process used in creating the Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Bladder Health Instrument (PLUS-BHI).Materials and Methods:Questions assessing bladder health were developed using reviews of published items, expert opinion, and focus groups' transcript review. Candidate items were tested through cognitive interviews with community-dwelling women and an online panel survey. Items were assessed for comprehension, language, and response categories and modified iteratively to create the PLUS-BHI.Results:Existing measures of bladder function (storage, emptying, sensation components) and bladder health impact required modification of time frame and response categories to capture a full range of bladder health. Of the women 167 (18-80 years old) completed individual interviews and 791 women (18-88 years) completed the online panel survey. The term "bladder health" was unfamiliar for most and was conceptualized primarily as absence of severe urinary symptoms, infection, or cancer. Coping mechanisms and self-management strategies were central to bladder health perceptions. The inclusion of prompts and response categories that captured infrequent symptoms increased endorsement of symptoms across bladder function components.Conclusions:Bladder health measurement is challenged by a lack of awareness of normal function, use of self-management strategies to mitigate impact on activities, and a common tendency to overlook infrequent lower urinary tract symptoms. The PLUS-BHI is designed to characterize the full spectrum of bladder health in women and will be validated for research use.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1407-1414 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Urology |
Volume | 205 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 1 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2021 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.
Keywords
- health status indicators
- health surveys
- interviews as topic
- lower urinary tract symptoms
- urinary bladder