The purpose of this study is to determine whether treatment of female stress urinary incontinence using a web-based programme is effective.
Female urinary incontinence is very common and affects up to one fourth of grownup women. It may reduce quality of life for those affected and costs for society are high. The most common type of urinary incontinence is stress urinary incontinence (SUI), i.e leakage when coughing, sneezing or jumping. There is no association between SUI and serious medical conditions. Thus investigation can be kept to a minimum, including structured history taking and a bladder diary for correct diagnosis. Treatment with lifestyle intervention and pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) give improvement or cure in 60-70% of women. A small study indicates that treatment with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) may improve incontinence-related quality of life and symptoms of urinary incontinence. Web-based management of SUI has as far as we know never been evaluated in a randomized controlled study. The aim of this study is to determine if web-based management of female SUI, with a treatment using PFMT and elements of CBT is effective compared to treatment supported by a pamphlet. The duration of the treatment programme is three months, follow-up at four months, 1 year and two years.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
250
125 women with stress urinary incontinence(SUI) participate in web-based treatment for 3 months. Treatment consists of information, PFMT and uses elements of CBT. It includes regular email contact with urotherapist.
125 women with SUI receive a pamphlet with information and a programme for PFMT.
Umea University
Umeå, Sweden
International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI SF)
summed symptom-score, range 0-21, with higher scores indicating greater severity.
Time frame: baseline, 4 months
International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Quality of Life (ICIQ-LUTSqol)
condition-specific quality of life, summed score, range 19-76, higher scores indicate greater impact on quality of life.
Time frame: baseline, 4 months
EuroQol Five Dimensions Visual Analogue Scale (EQ5D-VAS)
health-specific quality of life, range 0-100, higher scores indicate better quality of life.
Time frame: baseline, 4 months
Usage of Incontinence Aids
Only those using incontinence aids at baseline were included in the analysis.
Time frame: baseline, 4 months
Patient Satisfaction
Time frame: 4 months
Incontinence Episode Frequency (IEF)
number of incontinence episodes per week
Time frame: baseline, 4 months
Patient's Global Impression of Improvement Scale (PGI-I)
Time frame: 4 months
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