OFFICE BASED CRITERIA FOR PREDICTING TYPE II STRESS INCONTINENCE WITHOUT FURTHER EVALUATION STUDIES

Efficacy and safety of gefapixant in women with chronic cough and cough-induced stress urinary incontinence: a phase 3b, randomised, multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Approximately two-thirds of women with chronic cough have cough-induced stress urinary incontinence (CSUI). We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of gefapixant in reducing CSUI episodes in women with refractory or unexplained chronic cough.

METHODS

This phase 3b, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial done at 90 sites in 12 countries enrolled women aged 18 years or older who had chronic cough for at least 1 year, a diagnosis of refractory or unexplained chronic cough, a cough severity visual analogue scale score of 40 mm or more (100 mm maximum), and CSUI for 3 months or more. Participants were randomised 1:1 to oral gefapixant or placebo for 12 weeks. The primary outcome was percentage change from baseline in daily CSUI episodes (7-day average) at week 12. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04193176).

FINDINGS

From May 10, 2020, to Sept 2, 2022, 375 participants were randomised to and treated with gefapixant 45 mg twice daily (n=185) or placebo (n=190). Mean age was 56·4 years (SD 11·4), with mean chronic cough duration of 5·2 years (SD 6·6) and SUI duration of 4·0 years (SD 5·9). Least-squares mean percentage change from baseline in daily CSUI episodes was -52·8% (95% CI -58·4 to -47·1%) for gefapixant and -41·1% (-46·7 to -35·4%) for placebo (estimated treatment difference: -11·7% [95% CI -19·7 to -3·7]; p=0·004). 129 (70%) of 185 participants who received gefapixant and 71 (37%) of 190 participants who received placebo had at least one adverse event. Safety and tolerability were consistent with previous trials of gefapixant; the most frequent adverse events were taste related.

INTERPRETATION

Gefapixant 45 mg twice daily is the first treatment to show efficacy versus placebo in reducing CSUI episodes in participants with refractory or unexplained chronic cough.

FUNDING

Merck Sharp & Dohme, a subsidiary of Merck & Co.

Contemporary diagnosis of lower urinary tract dysfunction

Introduction: Diagnosis of lower urinary tract (LUT) dysfunction starts with categorization in clinical syndromes, and initial management is based on the assumptions about pathophysiology that these syndromes contain. However, clinical practice guidelines are ambiguous in clinical specialists' diagnosis of dysfunction after failure of initial management. This is a narrative and critical review of the existing evidence, and the aim is to suggest practice improvements in the process of clinical specialists' diagnosis for patients resistant to initial management. Methods and Results: Evidence is collated on the basis of the author's personal preference in combination with good clinical practice general principles. Statements and suggestions to improve reflect personal opinion. For two groups of patients with LUT dysfunction, the strategy of initial diagnosis is summarized and desirable principles of secondary care diagnosis are discussed. More specifically, a structure for the contemporary care of women with signs and symptoms of urinary incontinence is described and for that of the group of men older than 45 years with symptoms of LUT dysfunction. Conclusions: Urodynamic testing is the undisputed gold standard for objective assessment and is the only way to stage and grade the dysfunction. Clinical practice guidelines and clinical specialists are too modest about the use and applicability of objective or urodynamic testing for referred persons with LUT dysfunction that is resistant to initial pragmatic management. Objective assessment and diagnosis are mainstays in secondary care, and the indication to perform objective assessments in patients with LUT dysfunction should be advised much more specifically in guidelines and practice recommendations.

Effect of Group-Administered Behavioral Treatment on Urinary Incontinence in Older Women: A Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE

Urinary incontinence (UI) guidelines recommend behavioral interventions as first-line treatment using individualized approaches. A one-time, group-administered behavioral treatment (GBT) could enhance access to behavioral treatment.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the effectiveness, cost, and cost-effectiveness of GBT with no treatment for UI in older women.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

Multisite randomized clinical trial (the Group Learning Achieves Decreased Incidents of Lower Urinary Symptoms [GLADIOLUS] study), conducted from July 7, 2014, to December 31, 2016. The setting was outpatient practices at 3 academic medical centers. Community-dwelling women 55 years or older with UI were recruited by mail and screened for eligibility, including a score of 3 or higher on the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form (ICIQ-SF), symptoms of at least 3 months' duration, and absence of medical conditions or treatments that could affect continence status. Of 2171 mail respondents, 1125 were invited for clinical screening; 463 were eligible and randomized; 398 completed the 12-month study.

INTERVENTIONS

The GBT group received a one-time 2-hour bladder health class, supported by written materials and an audio CD.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Outcomes were measured at in-person visits (at 3 and 12 months) and by mail or telephone (at 6 and 9 months). The primary outcome was the change in the ICIQ-SF score. Secondary outcome measures assessed UI severity, quality of life, perceptions of improvement, pelvic floor muscle strength, and costs. Evaluators were masked to group assignment.

RESULTS

Participants (232 in the GBT group and 231 in the control group) were aged 55 to 91 years (mean [SD] age, 64 [7] years), and 46.2% (214 of 463) were African American. In intent-to-treat analyses, the ICIQ-SF scores for GBT were consistently lower than control across all time points but did not achieve the projected 3-point difference. At 3 months, the difference in differences was 0.96 points (95% CI, -1.51 to -0.41 points), which was statistically significant but clinically modest. The mean (SE) treatment effects at 6, 9, and 12 months were 1.36 (0.32), 2.13 (0.33), and 1.77 (0.31), respectively. Significant group differences were found at all time points in favor of GBT on all secondary outcomes except pelvic floor muscle strength. The incremental cost to achieve a treatment success was $723 at 3 months; GBT dominated at 12 months.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

The GLADIOLUS study shows that a novel one-time GBT program is modestly effective and cost-effective for reducing UI frequency, severity, and bother and improving quality of life. Group-administered behavioral treatment is a promising first-line approach to enhancing access to noninvasive behavioral treatment for older women with UI.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02001714.

Distress and quality of life characteristics associated with seeking surgical treatment for stress urinary incontinence

BACKGROUND

Current research focuses on three variables in evaluating the impact of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) on daily living: severity of incontinence, distress or bother resulting from incontinence, and effect on health related quality of life (HRQoL). Understanding the impact of these variables is important as they are the driving force behind women seeking surgical treatment. Given the importance of HRQoL in determining need for treatment, as well as evaluating treatment success, this review provides an assessment of the degree to which HRQoL is impaired in women seeking surgical treatment.

METHODS

PubMed searches for the terms "quality of life and distress and urinary incontinence" and "quality of life and bother and urinary incontinence" were performed with limits of English, human and female subjects through May 2008. All studies using validated instruments were included. No time limit was placed on the search.

RESULTS

Of 178 articles retrieved, 21 met the inclusion criteria, and 17 reported methods of scoring. The studies used the Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI) and the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire (IIQ). Wide ranges of mean and individual levels of severity of symptoms, UDI and IIQ scores were seen among women seeking surgical treatment. Fourteen studies reported baseline and post-surgical treatment distress and QoL data. Statistically significant improvements between baseline and post-surgical UDI and IIQ scores were reported in 12 studies. Reported cure rates ranged from 46% to 97%. Satisfaction with the procedure was reported in 4 studies and ranged from 84% to 91%. A minority of studies reported the relationship between reduction in symptoms and change in HRQoL.

CONCLUSION

HRQoL is the main reason women seek surgical treatment for incontinence and surgical treatment leads to a significant improvement in mean HRQoL scores. Assessment of HRQoL has proved less useful in identifying why individual women seek treatment for incontinence. Preliminary work has begun to characterize the interaction between severity of symptoms, distress or bother resulting from these urinary symptoms, impact on HRQoL, and treatment seeking behavior, but further research is needed. Greater standardization in the reporting of results of distress or bother and HRQoL would allow for comparison across studies.

Analysis of the value of the ICIQ-UI SF questionnaire and stress test in the differential diagnosis of the type of urinary incontinence

AIMS

Presently, there is no simple, universally accepted instrument for the initial diagnosis of urinary incontinence (UI), which is why physicians find it so difficult to integrate the diagnosis into their daily clinical practice. The objective of this study is to analyze the true value of the ICIQ-UI SF questionnaire (ICIQ), the stress test, and the combination of both for the diagnosis as to the type of UI.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study performed in 116 women consulting for UI symptoms in two specialized health care centers. The subjects completed the ICIQ and underwent a stress test and urodynamic testing which was used for the reference diagnosis. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and the statistical "likelihood ratio (LR)" were assessed.

RESULTS

According to the ICIQ, 45 women (38.8%) suffered from Stress UI (SUI); 19 (16.4%), Urgency UI (UUI), and 49 (42.2%), Mixed UI (MUI). According to the stress test, 75 (64.7%) presented SUI. According to the combination of both tests, the diagnosis was SUI in 35 (30.2%), UUI in 17 (14.7%), and MUI in 37 (31.9%). Regarding urodynamic testing, observations were as follows: USI in 45 subjects (38.8%), detrusor overactivity (DO) in 25 (21.6%), and combination of both (MUI) in 30 (25.9%). The combination of ICIQ-UI SF plus stress test showed good specificity and negative predictive value, and the best LR coefficients obtained were: 3.11 (USI); 6.64 (UUI); 2.64 (MUI), and 3.77 ("all" SUI).

CONCLUSIONS

The combined use of the ICIQ plus stress test will aid in characterizing the type of UI at a basic health care level, favoring the prescription of the most appropriate treatment for each case.

Primer: questionnaires versus urodynamics in the evaluation of lower urinary tract dysfunction—one, both or none?

What is the role of urodynamic assessments and have we made too much use of them? Is there a correlation between symptoms and underlying pathophysiology? These questions are addressed in this article. There are disparities in the assessment of lower urinary tract dysfunction between the accuracy of symptomatic assessment and the underlying pathophysiology. This is particularly evident with voiding symptoms, in contrast to storage symptoms, and has fuelled the debates that have resulted in the abandonment of the term 'prostatism' in favor of 'lower urinary tract symptoms', whereas the term 'overactive bladder syndrome' has been embraced as a storage symptom complex. Clearly, voiding disorders principally affect men, whilst storage disorders are more common in women. Much has been written and spoken about regarding the use of symptomatic assessment versus urodynamics in the assessment of lower urinary tract symptoms in men, whilst there has been a clearer consensus on the potential usefulness of urodynamics in the assessment of storage disorders, and so this article focuses principally on the latter topic.

A new questionnaire for urinary incontinence diagnosis in women: development and testing

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to develop a questionnaire for urinary incontinence diagnosis in women and to test its reliability and validity, with incontinence specialists' clinical evaluations as the gold standard.

STUDY DESIGN

One hundred seventeen urogynecology outpatients with urinary incontinence symptoms completed the Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis at enrollment and 1 week and 9 months later. Baseline clinical diagnoses were compared with Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis diagnoses (criterion validity). Nine-month Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis change scores were compared across treatment groups (responsiveness).

RESULTS

Clinical diagnoses included stress (n = 15), urge (n = 26), and mixed urinary incontinence (n = 72). Internal consistency and test-retest reliability estimates were good. Sensitivity and specificity were 85% (95% CI, 75%, 91%) and 71% (95% CI, 51%, 87%), respectively, for stress urinary incontinence and 79% (95% CI, 69%, 86%) and 79% (95% CI, 54%, 94%), respectively, for urge urinary incontinence. The Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis correctly diagnosed urinary incontinence type in 80% of subjects. Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis Stress and Urge scores decreased significantly in treated subjects.

CONCLUSION

The Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis, a new 6-item questionnaire for female urinary incontinence type diagnosis, is reliable and able to diagnose stress urinary incontinence and urge urinary incontinence in a referral urogynecology patient population with accuracy.

Clinical practice guidelines on the initial assessment and treatment of urinary incontinence in women: a US focused review

OBJECTIVE

To identify clinical practice guidelines from prominent US organizations for the initial management of urinary incontinence (UI) in women and compare them with recommendations from the International Consultation on Incontinence (ICI). The challenge of implementing guidelines in the US was also identified.

METHODS

The medical literature was reviewed to identify relevant practice guidelines on the initial management of UI in community-dwelling women according to specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. Guidelines were compared with the ICI international gold standard relating to patient identification, initial therapy, and recommendation for specialist referral. Literature on programs to implement guidelines into clinical practice was reviewed.

RESULTS

There is general agreement on how females with UI should be initially managed based on guidelines, monographs, and technical bulletins from prominent US organizations. Though these recommendations are more than 5 years old, they are fairly similar to the latest guidelines developed by the ICI in 2001. Minor discrepancies are mainly related to the lack of updating US guidelines based on most recent knowledge. Implementing existing guidelines into clinical practice presents a challenge.

CONCLUSION

No evidence-based practice guidelines from prominent US organizations on the initial management of UI in women exist that are less than 5 years old, but the latest versions are in alignment with recent ICI/WHO guidelines. Although optimization of UI management may be the goal of guidances, the debate remains over whether these recommendations are actually effective in modifying practice. Simplifying and updating guidelines regularly may enhance adaptation in the initial management of UI in women.

VALIDATION OF A CLINICAL ALGORITHM TO DIAGNOSE STRESS URINARY INCONTINENCE FOR LARGE STUDIES

PURPOSE

We assessed the accuracy with which a clinical diagnostic algorithm for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) based on symptoms and signs without including urodynamics predicted the observation of urodynamic SUI and the condition of SUI. Such an algorithm would have applicability to ensure that the majority of women entering large SUI clinical trials would have urodynamic SUI and/or the condition of SUI without performing urodynamic testing in all subjects.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 1455 women with urinary incontinence at least 3 months in duration were enrolled in 3 randomized clinical trials (1 phase 2 and 2 phase 3 trials) of duloxetine vs placebo for the treatment of SUI in Europe and North America. Subjects were identified as having SUI based on a clinical algorithm that required a predominant symptom of SUI with a weekly incontinence episode frequency of 4 or greater (phase 2 study), or 7 or greater (phase 3 studies), absent predominant urge symptoms, normal diurnal and nocturnal frequency, a bladder capacity of 400 ml or greater, and a positive cough stress (sign of SUI) and stress pad test. Multichannel urodynamic studies were performed in a subset of 184 women at 23 study sites. Of these urodynamic tracings 173 (94%) were of adequate quality to make an assessment of the filling phase and assign a diagnosis of urodynamic SUI, detrusor overactivity or a normal filling phase. Two-sided 95% exact CIs for the proportions were calculated.

RESULTS

The clinical algorithm had a positive predictive value of 90.2% for urodynamic SUI with or without detrusor overactivity and 76.9% for urodynamic SUI only (pure urodynamic SUI). The positive predictive value for the condition of pure SUI was 85.0%, while for the condition of SUI in pure and mixed forms the positive predictive value was 98.3%. Patient age, previous continence surgery or the severity of incontinence did not influence algorithm accuracy.

CONCLUSIONS

The algorithm is suitably feasible and sufficiently predictive to be used in large clinical trials designed to evaluate conservative treatment for women with SUI. It ensures that the overwhelming majority of the study population would have urodynamic SUI and the condition of SUI.

Evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms in females

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Ongoing controversy exists as to the extent of the necessary evaluation of the female presenting with lower urinary tract symptoms. Most would agree that a detailed history, a physical examination and a urine analysis are essential components of the initial evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms in the female. Beyond these assessments, however, there are no universally accepted guidelines or recommendations. In selected patients, a urodynamic, endoscopic and/or radiographic evaluation may be indicated. When further investigation of lower urinary tract symptoms is being considered, individual test characteristics, including sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility and accuracy, must be balanced against such factors as cost, morbidity, discomfort, availability and invasiveness. This review discusses some of the recent reports, controversies and developments in the evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms in the female, and briefly reviews the most recent relevant International Continence Society subcommittee publications.

RECENT FINDINGS

The proceedings of the International Consultation on Incontinence, as well as recent publications by a number of its subcommittees, have provided some guidance for the structured evaluation of lower urinary tract symptoms in the female, especially with regard to the investigation of urinary incontinence. The role of urodynamics and radiographic imaging continues to be refined. Magnetic resonance imaging is, at present, still primarily a research tool in the evaluation of lower urinary tract disorders in the female; however, a clinical role for this technology is evolving.

SUMMARY

The goal of a diagnostic evaluation is the accurate characterization of lower urinary tract symptoms for the purposes of treatment. Ideally, a brief, low-cost, non-invasive evaluation would provide a high degree of diagnostic accuracy. However, existing technology is limited in this regard. Until future refinements permit a completely non-invasive, cost-effective and accurate analysis of female lower urinary tract symptoms, existing technology must be appropriately utilized. Well-conducted, evidence-based, prospective studies are needed.

Proceedings of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases International Symposium on Epidemiologic Issues in Urinary Incontinence in Women

The Epidemiologic Issues in Urinary Incontinence: Current Databases and Future Collaborations Symposium included an international group of 29 investigators from 10 countries. The purpose of the symposium was to discuss the current understanding and knowledge gaps of prevalence, incidence, associated risk factors, and treatment outcomes for incontinence in women. During the symposium, investigators identified existing large databases and ongoing studies that provide substantive information on specific incontinence research questions. The investigators were able to form an international collaborative research working group and identify potential collaborative projects to further research on the epidemiology of urinary incontinence and bladder dysfunction.