ICIQ symptom and quality of life instruments measure clinically relevant improvements in women with stress urinary incontinence

AimsTo 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). MethodsWe 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. ResultsThe 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. ConclusionsThe 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. Neurourol. Urodynam. 34:747-751, 2015. (c) 2014 The Authors. Neurourology and Urodynamics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.