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Abstract
Background: Several pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic interventions are available for the treatment
of symptoms of overactive bladder (OAB). The relationship between type of initial
intervention and subsequent symptom improvement and resource utilization has not been
explored in detail.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess (1) the proportion of patients continuing
with their initially prescribed treatment for OAB 3 and 6 months after the initial
evaluation and (2) the relationship between actual treatment patterns, symptom improvement,
and number of physician office visits.
Methods: A total of 31 physicians enrolled patients with OAB for this 6-month prospective,
observational study. Baseline data on OAB symptom severity and OAB management strategies
were obtained and initial treatment(s) were prescribed by physicians during a routine
office visit. Follow-up data on symptom changes, treatment changes, number of physician
office visits, and the frequency of absorbent pad use were collected via telephone
interviews with patients 3 and 6 months after the initial visit. Stepwise logistic
regression was used to assess the relationship between patient characteristics, prescription
of medication, and symptom improvement.
Results: A total of 213 patients were enrolled; 122 (57.3%) and 100 (46.9%) patients provided
follow-up data at the 3-month and 6-month assessments, respectively. The mean age
was 61.2 years; 85.2% of patients were female, and 77.7% were white. OAB symptom improvement
was significantly related to being prescribed medication (odds ratio [OR], 4.3; 95%
CI, 1.8–9.9) and the mean number of daily leakage incidents at baseline (OR, 3.2;
95% CI, 1.2–8.4). Although patients who were prescribed drugs at baseline tended to
have fewer physician office visits and were less likely to be prescribed nondrug interventions
than patients who were not treated initially with drugs, these differences were not
statistically significant.
Conclusions: Pharmacologic treatment for symptoms of OAB appears to be associated with greater
symptom improvement than nonpharmacologic treatment. Larger studies of experimental
design are needed to determine whether patients treated with medication use fewer
nondrug interventions and require fewer physician office visits than patients treated
without medication.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
January 16,
2002
Identification
Copyright
© 2002 Published by Elsevier Inc.
