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Overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome is the term used to describe the symptom complex of urinary urgency with or without urge incontinence, usually with frequency and nocturia. Drug treatment continues to have an important role in the management of women with OAB. Other treatment options include conservative management with lifestyle interventions, modification of fluid intake, and physiotherapy including bladder retraining. Surgery remains the last resort in the treatment and is usually reserved for intractable detrusor overactivity, as it is associated with significant morbidity. This article reviews the management of the overactive bladder with specific focus on newer developments in the medical treatment of OAB in women.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a medical syndrome defined by symptoms of urgency, with or without urge urinary incontinence (any involuntary loss of urine), usually with frequency and nocturia. Although anticholinergic agents have been the first-line treatment for OAB for many years, the efficacious pharmacologic management of this condition has been compromised by concerns regarding tolerability. Flavoxate was the first anticholinergic and antispasmodic agent approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat symptoms of OAB but is not routinely used today since newer agents are more effective. The more recent drugs, oxybutynin and tolterodine, have appeared to be equally efficacious in treating the symptoms of OAB in clinical trials; however, tolterodine has proven to be better tolerated with fewer adverse effects. In 2004, the FDA approved the three newest agents for the class: darifenacin, solifenacin, and trospium. Compared with oxybutynin and tolterodine, these agents have a more favorable side effect profile, which can enhance tolerability and patient compliance. Side effects are reduced in part because of the drugs' greater tissue selectivity for inhibiting the bladder muscle contraction over other anticholinergic receptors in the body. In recent clinical trials, darifenacin, solifenacin, and trospium have shown superiority to placebo and efficacy comparable to that of oxybutynin and tolterodine.

Overactive bladder syndrome (OAB) refers to individuals with the following symptoms: urinary urgency, increased urinary frequency, and urge incontinence. These symptoms are not life threatening but can cause embarrassment and significantly impact quality of life. There are numerous treatment options for OAB, including behavioral therapy, traditional pharmacological therapy or a combination of the two. These options are considered the mainstay of treatment for OAB. We carried out a comprehensive systematic review of the available literature on the effectiveness of behavioral intervention, anticholinergic drugs, and their combination in the management of adults with overactive bladder, with emphasis on results from clinical trials and primary literature. Each treatment intervention is efficacious, and the choice should be based on the patient's severity of symptoms, tolerability, compliance and satisfaction with the treatment. Based on available literature, management of OAB using a combination of behavioral therapy and drug intervention is the most efficacious in terms of patient satisfaction, perceived improvement, and reduction of bladder symptoms. It is also the most practical and cost effective for optimal management of patients with OAB. Pharmacological treatment, in addition to behavioral therapy, remains important in the management of adults with OAB syndrome.

Behavioural interventions are effective treatments for overactive bladder (OAB) and urgency urinary incontinence (UUI). They are in part aimed at improving symptoms with patient education on healthy bladder habits and lifestyle modifications, including the establishment of normal voiding intervals, elimination of bladder irritants from the diet, management of fluid intake, weight control, management of bowel regularity and smoking cessation. Behavioural interventions also include specific training techniques aimed at re-establishing normal voiding intervals and continence. Training techniques include bladder training, which includes a progressive voiding schedule together with relaxation and distraction for urgency suppression, and multicomponent behavioural training, which, in conjunction with pelvic floor muscle (PFM) exercises, includes PFM contraction to control urgency and increase the interval between voids. Guidelines for the conservative treatment of OAB and UUI have been published by several organisations and the physiological basis and evidence for the effectiveness of behavioural interventions, including lifestyle modifications, in the treatment of OAB and UUI have been described. However, many primary care clinicians may have a limited awareness of the evidence supporting the often straight-forward treatment recommendations and guidance for incorporating behavioural interventions into busy primary care practices, because most of this information has appeared in the specialty literature. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of behavioural interventions for OAB and UUI that can be incorporated with minimal time and effort into the treatment armamentarium of all clinicians that care for patients with bladder problems. Practical supporting materials that will facilitate the use of these interventions in the clinic are included; these can be used to help patients understand lifestyle choices and voiding behaviours that may improve function in patients experiencing OAB symptoms and/or UUI as well as promote healthy bladder behaviours and perhaps even prevent future bladder problems. Interventions for stress urinary incontinence are beyond the scope of this review.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a prevalent and costly condition that can affect any age group. Typical symptoms include urinary urgency, frequency, incontinence and nocturia. OAB occurs as a result of abnormal contractions of the bladder detrusor muscle caused by the stimulation of certain muscarinic receptors. Therefore, antimuscarinic agents have long been considered the mainstay of pharmacologic treatment for OAB. Currently, there are five such agents approved for the management of OAB in the United States: oxybutynin, tolterodine, trospium, solifenacin and darifenacin. This article summarizes the efficacy, contraindications, precautions, dosing and common side effects of these agents. All available clinical trials on trospium, solifenacin and darifenacin were reviewed to determine its place in therapy.

Purpose

To evaluate the relationship between urodynamic detrusor overactivity (DO) and overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms in men and women.

Methods

We reviewed the records of adult males and females who attended a tertiary referral center for urodynamic evaluation of OAB syndrome symptoms with the presence or absence of DO. DO was calculated for symptoms alone or in combination.

Results

The overall incidence of DO was 76.1% and 58.7% in male and female OAB patients, respectively. Of men 63% and 61% of women with urgency (OAB dry) had DO, while 93% of men and 69.8% of women with urgency and urgency urinary incontinence (OAB wet) had DO. Of women, 58% who were OAB wet had stress urinary incontinence symptoms with 26.4% having urodynamic stress incontinence. 6% of men and 6.5% of women with OAB symptoms had urodynamic diagnosis of voiding difficulties with postvoid residual greater than 100 mL. Combination of symptoms is more accurate in predicting DO in OAB patients. The multivariate disease model for males included urge urinary incontinence (UUI) and urgency while for females it included UUI and nocturia.

Conclusions

There was a better correlation in results between OAB symptoms and the urodynamic diagnosis of DO in men than in women, more so in OAB wet than in OAB dry. Combination of symptoms of the OAB syndrome seems to have a better correlation with objective parameters from the bladder diary, filling cystometry, and with the occurrence of DO.

Introduction and hypothesis

This study focussed on the factors which predict the presence of symptoms of overactive bladder (OAB) after surgery for pelvic organ prolapse (POP).

Methods

Consecutive women who underwent POP surgery with or without the use of vaginal mesh materials in the years 2004–2007 were included. Assessments were made preoperatively and at follow-up, including physical examination (POP-Q) and standardised questionnaires (IIQ, UDI and DDI).

Results

Five hundred and five patients were included with a median follow-up of 12.7 (6–35) months. Bothersome OAB symptoms decreased after POP surgery. De novo bothersome OAB symptoms appeared in 5–6% of the women. Frequency and urgency were more likely to improve as compared with urge incontinence and nocturia. The best predictor for the absence of postoperative symptoms was the absence of preoperative bothersome OAB symptoms.

Conclusion

The absence of bothersome OAB symptoms preoperatively was the best predictor for the absence of postoperative symptoms.

The current definition of overactive bladder (OAB) is “urgency, with or without urge incontinence, usually with frequency and nocturia in the absence of an underlying metabolic or pathologic condition.” Urgency, in turn, is defined as a “sudden, compelling desire to pass urine that is difficult to defer.” While these definitions provide the framework for making a clinical diagnosis of OAB, they rely on subjective assessment of the symptoms by the patient. As well, the symptoms of OAB can be similar to those seen in other conditions, such as urinary tract infection, benign prostatic enlargement and bladder cancer. These other potential diagnoses should be ruled out in a noninvasive manner before making a diagnosis of OAB.

Background

Bladder desensitization has been investigated as an alternative treatment for refractory detrusor overactivity. Most open and controlled clinical trials conducted with intravesical RTX showed that desensitization delays the appearance of involuntary detrusor contractions during bladder filling and decreases the number of episodes of urgency incontinence.

Urgency is being recognised as the fundamental symptom of overactive bladder (OAB), a symptomatic complex which recent epidemiological studies have shown to affect more than 10% of the Western population. As anti-muscarinic drugs, the first line treatment for OAB, are far from being able to fully control urgency, the opportunity to test other therapeutic approaches is created. The present work was, therefore, designed as an exploratory investigation to evaluate the effect of bladder desensitization on urinary urgency.

Methods

Twenty-three OAB patients with refractory urgency entered, after given informed consent, a 30 days run-in period in which medications influencing the bladder function were interrupted. At the end of this period patients filled a seven-day voiding chart where they scored, using a 0–4 scale, the bladder sensations felt before each voiding. Then, patients were instilled with 100 ml of 10% ethanol in saline (vehicle solution) and 30 days later a second seven-day voiding chart was collected. Finally, patients were instilled with 100 ml of 50 nM RTX in 10% ethanol in saline. At 1 and 3 months additional voiding charts were collected.

At the end of the vehicle and 3 months period patients were asked to give their subjective impression about the outcome of the treatment and about the willingness to repeat the previous instillation.

Results

At the end of the run-in period the mean number of episodes of urgency per week was 71 ± 12 (mean ± SEM). After vehicle instillation, the mean number of episodes of urgency was 56 ± 11, but only 4 patients (17%) considered that their urinary condition had improved enough to repeat the treatment. At 1 and 3 months after RTX the number of episodes of urgency decreased to 39 ± 9 (p = 0.002) and 37 ± 6 (p = 0.02), respectively (p indicates statistical differences against vehicle). The percentage of patients with subjective improvement after RTX and willing to repeat the instillation at a later occasion was 69%.

Conclusion

In OAB patients with refractory urgency bladder desensitization should be further investigated as an alternative to the standard management. Additionally, the specific effect of RTX on TRPV1 receptors suggests that urothelium and sub-urothelial C-fibers play an important role to the generation of urgency sensation.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a chronic syndrome defined by symptoms of urinary urgency with no underlying medical causes. First-line treatment of OAB comprises fluid intake advice and bladder training, supplemented by anticholinergic drugs if necessary. Owing to the chronic nature of OAB, the ideal anticholinergic treatment should have good long-term efficacy and tolerability. There are many anticholinergics available, although some of these are not specific for the bladder and can cause adverse effects such as dry mouth, constipation, blurred vision or cognitive impairment. Imidafenacin (a newer anticholinergic which has been marketed in Japan since 2007) was developed to improve the tolerability of anticholinergic therapy. This article summarizes the pharmacological properties, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy and tolerability of imidafenacin in the treatment of OAB. Data from key clinical studies of imidafenacin show that it has a fast onset of action and is effective for the treatment of OAB. It selectively binds to muscarinic receptors in the bladder and is associated with a good safety profile compared with other anticholinergics. The clinical efficacy, superior tolerability and adjustable dosing of imidafenacin make it a good anticholinergic for the treatment of OAB.

Purpose

Overactive bladder (OAB) is subtyped into OAB-wet and OAB-dry, based on the presence or absence, respectively, of urgency incontinence. In order to better understand patient and physician perspectives on symptoms among women with OAB-wet and OAB-dry, we conducted patient focus groups and interviews with experts in urinary incontinence.

Materials and Methods

Five focus groups totaling 33 patients with OAB symptoms, including three groups of OAB-wet and 2 groups of OAB-dry patients, were conducted. Topics addressed patients’ perceptions of OAB symptoms, treatments, and outcomes. Twelve expert interviews were then conducted in which experts were asked to describe their views on OAB-wet and OAB-dry. Focus groups and expert interviews were transcribed verbatim. Qualitative data analysis was performed using Grounded Theory methodology, as described by Charmaz.

Results

During the focus groups sessions, women screened as OAB-dry shared the knowledge that they would probably leak if no toilet is available. This knowledge was based on a history of leakage episodes in the past. Those few patients with no history of leakage had a clinical picture more consistent with painful bladder syndrome than OAB. Physician expert interviews revealed the belief that many patients labeled as OAB–dry may actually be mild OAB-wet.

Conclusions

Qualitative data from focus groups and interviews with experts suggest that a spectrum exists between very mild OAB-wet and severe OAB-wet. Scientific investigations are needed to determine if urgency without fear of leakage constitutes a unique clinical entity.

Objectives:

In this review, we discuss the treatment of refractory overactive bladder (OAB) that has not adequately responded to medication therapy and we propose an appropriate care pathway to the treatment of OAB. We also attempt to address the cost of OAB treatments.

Materials and Methods:

A selective expert review of the current literature on the subject of refractory OAB using MEDLINE was performed and the data is summarized. We also review our experience in treating refractory OAB. The role and outcomes of various treatment options for refractory OAB are discussed and combined therapy with oral anticholinergics is explored. Emerging remedies including intravesical botulinum toxin injection and pudendal neuromodulation are also reviewed, along with conventional surgical options.

Results:

In general behavioral therapy, pelvic floor electrical stimulation, magnetic therapy and posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS), have shown symptom decreases in 50-80% of patients with OAB. Depending on the study, combination therapy with oral anticholinergics seems to improve efficacy of behavioral therapy and PTNS in approximately 10-30%. In multicenter, long-term randomized controlled trials, sacral neuromodulation has been shown to improve symptoms of OAB and OAB incontinence in up to 80% of the patients treated. Studies involving emerging therapies such as pudendal serve stimulation suggest that there may be a 15-20% increase in efficacy over sacral neuromodulation, but long-term studies are not yet available. Another emerging therapy, botulinum toxin, is also showing similar success in reducing OAB symptoms in 80-90% of patients. Surgical approaches, such as bladder augmentation, are a last resort in the treatment of OAB and are rarely used at this point unless upper tract damage is a concern and all other treatment options have been exhausted.

Conclusion:

The vast majority of OAB patients can be managed successfully by behavioral options with or without anticholinergic medications. When those fail, neuromodulation or intravesical botulinum toxin therapies are successful alternatives for most of the remaining group. We encourage practitioners responsible for the care of OAB patients to gain experience with these options. More research is needed to assess the cost-effectiveness of various OAB treatments

Overactive bladder is a symptom syndrome with urgency, frequency and, in many cases, nocturia. Urge incontinence is not present in all. There is no direct correlation with detrusor overactivity, an objective finding during urodynamic testing where involuntary contractions can be noticed. In the pathophysiology, much more attention has been given to the afferent/sensory arm of the micturition reflex in the last decade. Anatomical and infectious causes have to be diagnosed or ruled out. Diagnosis of overactive bladder is made mostly by history-taking, but other tests can be necessary in specific patients. Treatment consists of behavioral measures, a good explanation of the condition, training, and pelvic floor physiotherapy. Drugs are often used. Until recently, antimuscarinic drugs have been the mainstay of pharmacological therapy. Fesoterodine is a newer antimuscarinic agent which is more pharmacodynamically stable then tolterodine. Fesoterodine has been extensively researched using different dosages and compared with placebo and tolterodine, in different age groups, and under different conditions. Fesoterodine is superior to placebo and to tolterodine in the short term and long term. Its safety is very acceptable.

Objectives

With the ultimate goal of improving the quality of care provided to aging women with overactive bladder, we sought to better understand aging women’s experience with overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms and the care they receive.

Methods

Women seen in outpatient female urology clinics were identified by ICD-9 codes for OAB and recruited. Patients with painful bladder syndrome, mixed stress and urge incontinence, prolapse, or recent pelvic surgery were excluded. Patient focus groups were conducted by trained non-clinician moderators incorporating topics related to patients’ perceptions of OAB physiology, symptoms, diagnostic evaluation, treatments, and outcomes. Qualitative data analysis was performed using grounded theory methodology.

Results

Five focus groups totaling 33 women with OAB were conducted. Average patient age was 67 years (range 39–91). Older women with OAB lacked knowledge about the physiology of their disease and had poor understanding regarding the rationale for many diagnostic tests, including urodynamics and cystoscopy. The results of diagnostic studies often were not understood by older patients. Many women were dissatisfied with the care they had received. This lack of knowledge and understanding was more apparent among the elderly women in the group.

Conclusions

Findings demonstrated a poor understanding of the physiology of overactive bladder and the rationale for various diagnostic modalities and treatments. This was associated with dissatisfaction with care. There is a need for better communication with older women experiencing OAB symptoms about the physiology of the condition.

Overactive bladder syndrome (OAB) is a constellation of distressing symptoms that significantly impair quality of life, sexual function, and work productivity, and imposes a significant economic burden to society. Pharmacological treatment with antimuscarinic agents, behavioral modification, bladder retraining, and/or pelvic floor exercises are often used alone or in combination as the mainstay treatment in the management of OAB. Oxybutynin has been used in the treatment of OAB for over 20 years with proven efficacy and is often the comparator in drug treatment trials. Oral formulations of oxybutynin have proven efficacy, but not without significant antimuscarinic effects, which reduce patient persistence with medical treatment. Low levels of patient persistence with oral formulations of oxybutynin provided an impetus for the development of a transdermal oxybutynin delivery system. The oxybutynin transdermal formulation has been found to have side effects similar to that of a placebo in randomized controlled trials while providing excellent efficacy. Patient persistence with therapy, improved quality of life, sexual function and interpersonal relationships have been observed with use of the transdermal oxybutynin delivery system. Its twice weekly dosing, low side effect profile, and high efficacy have made it a good choice for initial treatment of overactive bladder syndrome.

Purpose

The overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome is characterized by urgency usually with frequency and nocturia. Tamsulosin, α1-adrenergic receptor antagonist, is widely used to reduce symptoms of urinary obstruction and prostatic hyperplasia. Tamsulosin can across the blood-brain barrier. We investigated the effects of tamsulosin on the symptoms of OAB in relation to neuronal activity using rats.

Methods

Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats, weighing 250±10 g (9 weeks old), were used in this study. The animals were divided into five groups (n=8 in each group): control group, OAB-induced group, OAB-induced and 0.01 mg/kg tamsulosin-treated group, OAB-induced and 0.1 mg/kg tamsulosin-treated group, and OAB-induced and 1 mg/kg tamsulosin-treated group. OAB was induced by intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide (75 mg/kg) every third day for 10 days. The rats in the tamsulosin-treated groups orally received tamsulosin once a day for 14 consecutive days at the respective dose of the groups, starting 1 day after the induction of OAB. Cystometry for bladder pressure determination, immunohistochemistry for c-Fos, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate-diaphorase histochemistry for nitric oxide synthase (NOS) in the neuronal voiding centers and western blot for inducible NOS in the bladder were conducted.

Results

Cyclophosphamide injection enhanced contraction pressure and time, representing the induction of OAB. Contraction pressure and time were significantly suppressed by tamsulosin treatment. c-Fos and NOS expressions in the neuronal voiding centers were enhanced by induction of OAB. OAB-induced c-Fos and NOS expressions were suppressed by tamsulosin treatment.

Conclusions

Tamsulosin exerts inhibitory effect on neuronal activation in the neuronal voiding centers of OAB. The present results suggest the possibility that tamsulosin is effective therapeutic modality for ameliorating the symptoms of OAB.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a prevalent condition which has an adverse effect on quality of life. The presence of urgency incontinence confers significant morbidity above and beyond that of OAB sufferers who are continent. The primary treatment for OAB and urgency incontinence is a combination of behavioral measures and antimuscarinic drug therapy. The ideal antimuscarinic agent should effectively relieve the symptoms of OAB, with the minimum of side effects; it should be available as a once-daily sustained release formulation and in dosage strength that allows easy dose titration for the majority of sufferers. Solifenacin succinate was launched in 2005, and has been shown in both short and long term clinical trials to fulfill these requirements. Solifenacin is a competitive M3 receptor antagonist with a long half-life (45–68 hours). It is available in two dosage strengths namely a 5 or 10 mg once-daily tablet. The efficacy and tolerability of solifenacin for the treatment of all symptoms of OAB has been evaluated in a number of large, placebo controlled, randomized trials. Long-term safety, efficacy, tolerability and persistence with treatment have been established in an open label 40 week continuation study.

Introduction and hypothesis

To study the prevalence and risk factors of overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms and its relationship with symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse (POP).

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study including women aged between 45 and 85 years, registered in eight general practices. All women were asked to self complete the validated Dutch translated questionnaires. All symptoms were dichotomized as present or absent based on responses to each symptom and degree of bother.

Results

Forty-seven percent of the women filled out the questionnaire. Prevalence of urgency was 34% and the prevalence of any OAB symptoms 49%. Prevalence of OAB symptoms increased with advancing age. Symptoms of POP were an independent risk factor for symptomatic OAB. Other risk factors were continence and prolapse surgery in the past, age above 75, overweight, postmenopausal status and smoking.

Conclusions

The prevalence of any OAB symptoms was 49%. POP symptoms were an independent risk factor for symptomatic OAB.

Purpose

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a clinical syndrome that is currently treated initially with anticholinergics, although some other therapeutic alternatives exist, such as neuromodulation, botulinum toxin, and posterior tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS). The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of PTNS in patients with OAB refractory to anticholinergics.

Materials and Methods

We present a cohort study of 14 women with OAB to whom we applied PTNS. We assessed (before and after the treatment) the diurnal micturitional frequency, the nocturnal micturitional frequency, urgency episodes, and urge incontinence episodes. Results were analyzed by using the Wilcoxon test for nonparametric samples.

Results

We observed statistically significant improvement in the diurnal micturitional frequency (p=0.05), in episodes of micturitional urgency (p=0.03), and in episodes of urge incontinence (p=0.004). A total of 50% of the patients felt subjective improvement from their pathology.

Conclusions

PTNS is a valid, minimally invasive treatment option with minimum morbidity for patients with OAB refractory to treatment with anticholinergics.

Background

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a bothersome condition affecting the quality of life, financial constraint on the individual, and community. Anticholinergic drugs cannot be used for long term due to adverse side effects. Botulinum toxin has recently shown promising and encouraging result in management of OAB.

Aim

Aim was to study the safety, efficacy, tolerability, and duration of effect of 200 units of botulinum toxin in refractory idiopathic detrusor overactivity.

Materials and Methods

Thirty-nine female patients (average age of 52 years) clinically and urodynamically diagnosed as idiopathic OAB were injected 200 units of botulinum toxin-A mixed with 20 ml of normal saline, intradetrusally at the rate of 1 mL at each site for 20 such sites sparing the trigone and ureteric orifices. Follow up at 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th month with clinical and urodynamical questionnaire was done.

Results

There were 4 dropouts and 35 patients were evaluated, of which 30 patients (85.7%) showed improvement in clinical features like frequency, urgency, nocturia, and incontinence within 1 week of injection, which lasted for mean period of 7 months (varying from 6 to 9 months). Volume at first desire to void improved from median baseline of 104-204 ml and maximum cystometric capacity of bladder increased from mean baseline value of 205-330 ml. The detrusor pressure decreased by 49% from the baseline and postresidual urine volume increased by 30% of maximum cystometric capacity of bladder. There was no adverse effect on our patient.

Conclusion

Intradetrusor injection of Botox-A in management of refractory overactive idiopathic bladder is not only safe and well tolerated, but also very effective with practically no side effects.

Purpose

To compare urgency symptoms in women with interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) and overactive bladder (OAB).

Materials and Methods

Women with diagnoses of IC/BPS (n = 194) and OAB (n = 85) were recruited from the clinical practices of Urologists (n = 8) and Gynecologists (n = 16) with recognized expertise in the diagnosis and management of these conditions. Subjects completed a comprehensive telephone survey about their current symptoms. The questionnaire included 11 questions about urinary urgency. Responses were compared between the two groups.

Results

Urgency was commonly reported as a symptom by women with both conditions (81% IC/BPS and 91% OAB). Compared with IC/BPS, urgency in OAB more often resulted in leakage, and was perceived to be more of a problem. In IC/BPS, the urgency was primarily reported as due to pain, pressure, or discomfort, while in OAB the urgency was more commonly due to fear of leakage. However, approximately 40% of women with OAB also report urgency due to pain, pressure, or discomfort. Similar proportions of both groups (~60%) indicated that the urgency occurred “suddenly” instead of more gradually over a period of minutes or hours.

Conclusions

Urgency symptoms differed in women diagnosed with IC/BPS versus those diagnosed with OAB, but there was significant overlap. This suggests that “urgency” is not a well-defined and commonly understood symptom that can be utilized to clearly discriminate between IC/BPS and OAB. These findings reinforce the clinical observation that it is often challenging to differentiate between these two conditions.

Abstract:

The lack of standardized terminology in pelvic floor disorders (pelvic organ prolapse, urinary incontinence, and fecal incontinence) is a major obstacle to performing and interpreting research. The National Institutes of Health convened the Terminology Workshop for Researchers in Female Pelvic Floor Disorders to: (1) agree on standard terms for defining conditions and outcomes; (2) make recommendations for minimum data collection for research; and (3) identify high priority issues for future research. Pelvic organ prolapse was defined by physical examination staging using the International Continence Society system. Stress urinary incontinence was defined by symptoms and testing; ‘cure’ was defined as no stress incontinence symptoms, negative testing, and no new problems due to intervention. Overactive bladder was defined as urinary frequency and urgency, with and without urge incontinence. Detrusor instability was defined by cystometry. For all urinary symptoms, defining ‘improvement’ after intervention was identified as a high priority. For fecal incontinence, more research is needed before recommendations can be made. A standard terminology for research on pelvic floor disorders is presented and areas of high priority for future research are identified.

Purpose

In order to gain insight into the physicians' awareness of and attitude towards management of overactive bladder (OAB) in males, we performed a nationwide survey of the current strategies that urologists use to diagnose and manage OAB in male patients.

Materials and Methods

A probability sample was taken from the Korean Urological Association Registry of Physicians, and a random sample of 289 Korean urologists were mailed a structured questionnaire that explored how they manage benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Results

A total of 185 completed questionnaires were returned. The consent rate in the survey was 64.5%. Eighty-one (44%) urologists believed that of all males with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), 20% or more had OAB and 72 (39%) believed that 10-20% had OAB. Half of the urologists surveyed believed that the most bothersome symptom in male OAB patients was nocturia. Seventy-three percent of respondents reported that they prescribed alpha blockers with anticholinergics for first line management, while 19% of urologists prescribed alpha blocker monotherapy but not anticholinergics for OAB patients. Though acute urinary retention (AUR) was considered the anticholinergic adverse event of most concern, the most frequently observed adverse event was dry mouth (95%).

Conclusion

The present study provides insights into urologist views of male OAB. There is a discrepancy between the awareness of urologists and actual patterns of diagnosis and treatment of male OAB. This finding indicates the need to develop further practical guidelines based on solid clinical data.

Purpose

An overactive bladder (OAB) affects a person's quality of life. Patients who suffer from OAB run to the toilet frequently to prevent incontinence, and this behavior increases their risk of falling and fear of falling. This study evaluated the influence of OAB on falls and concern about falling in females aged 40 and over living in urban and rural communities.

Methods

We conducted a population-based cohort study using King's Health Questionnaire (KHQ), the Korean version of Falls Efficacy Scale-International (KFES-I) and a questionnaire regarding falls, in females aged 40 and over in Guri city and Yangpyeong county. The data from 514 responders were analyzed. The definition of OAB was 'moderately' or 'a lot' of urgency, or urge incontinence in KHQ. Falls was defined as experience of falls in the last year. High fear of falling was defined as a score of 24 or over in KFES-I. The factors were analyzed by the exact chi-square test and Student's t-test. The multivariate logistic regression model was adopted in order to examine the effects of OAB on falls and concern about falling.

Results

Of the 514 responders, 98 fitted the criterion of OAB. Eighty-nine (17.3%) of the responders had experienced falls in the last year: twenty-seven (27.5%) in the group with OAB and 62 (14.9%) in the group without OAB. There was a significant association between falls and OAB (odds ratio [OR], 1.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.00 to 3.08; P=0.0485), and between high fear of falling and OAB (OR, 2.72; 95% CI, 1.42 to 5.20; P=0.0024).

Conclusions

Urgency and symptoms of urge incontinence increase the risk of falls in women aged 40 or older in the community. Early diagnosis and proper treatment may prevent falls and improve quality of life in OAB patients.

Purpose

To evaluate the incidence of genitourinary mycoplasmas and the efficacy of antibiotics in women with overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms.

Materials and Methods

Women with OAB symptoms (micturition ≥8/24 hours and urgency ≥1/24 hours) for ≥3 months were screened for Mycoplasma hominis (M. hominis), Ureaplasma urealyticum (U. urealyticum), and Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis). Specimens from urethral and cervical vaginal swabs were examined for M. hominis and U. urealyticum by using the Mycoplasma IST2 kit and for C. trachomatis by using PCR. Women with positive results were treated with a 1 g dose of azithromycin. Persistent infection was treated with doxycycline. Changes in a 3-day bladder diary, Patient Perception of Bladder Condition (PPBC), and International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (ICIQ-FLUTS) were evaluated 4 weeks after negative conversion. Patient satisfaction was assessed.

Results

Of 84 women screened, 42.8% were positive (U. urealyticum, 40.5%; M. hominis, 7.1%; C. trachomatis, 3.6%; two organisms, 8.3%). After treatment, 82.7% obtained negative conversion, and their median number of micturition episodes decreased from 10.6/24 hours to 8.1/24 hours (p=0.002). PPBC and domain scores of the ICIQ-FLUTS (filling and quality of life) significantly improved. About 87.5% women with negative conversion were satisfied with the treatment.

Conclusions

Considering diagnostic tests and treatment for genitourinary mycoplasmas might be beneficial before invasive workup or treatment in women with OAB symptoms.