Effect of a Risk Calculator on Patient Satisfaction With the Decision for Midurethral Sling During Prolapse Surgery

Overview

Pelvic organ prolapse occurs with descent of one or more pelvic structures: the uterus and/or cervix, bowel, bladder, or rectum. Although options for treatment include expectant management, pelvic floor physical therapy, and pessary (intravaginal device) use, surgery is the only option which potentially offers a cure. It is well known that women with pelvic organ prolapse are at risk of developing new stress urinary incontinence symptoms after prolapse surgery. Stress urinary incontinence is defined as involuntary loss of urine with an increase in intra-abdominal pressure, such as sneezing, coughing, or laughing. Previous studies have demonstrated that the addition of a prophylactic anti-incontinence procedure at the time of prolapse surgery reduces this risk. One example of such a procedure is a mesh sling placed underneath the urethra (midurethral sling). Nevertheless, the decision to place a midurethral sling to prevent stress urinary incontinence after prolapse surgery remains controversial. A new risk calculator tool has been developed to provide patients' with their individualized risk of developing de novo stress urinary incontinence after prolapse surgery. The primary objective of this study is to determine whether use of this new personalized online risk calculator tool increases patient satisfaction with the decision whether or not to have a midurethral sling placed at the time of prolapse surgery to prevent development of stress urinary incontinence. The investigators hypothesize that use of this tool will increase patient satisfaction with their decision regarding midurethral sling placement.

The investigators plan to conduct a randomized, controlled clinical trial involving women with pelvic organ prolapse planning to have prolapse surgery with 1 of 4 fellowship-trained Urogynecologists at the National Center for Advanced Pelvic Surgery at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, DC. Women will be recruited prior to their preoperative counseling sessions during routine office visits and/or by telephone. After obtaining informed consent, women who agree to participate will be randomized to preoperative counseling sessions where an online risk calculator tool for the development of postoperative de novo stress urinary incontinence is or is not used. This tool is accessible at no cost from the following website: http://www.r-calc.com/ExistingFormulas.aspx?filter=CCQHS. At the time of these sessions, participants will decide whether to have a midurethral sling placed at the time of their prolapse repair to prevent development of stress urinary incontinence after surgery. After making this decision, all participants will complete the validated Satisfaction with Decision Scale to assess their satisfaction with their decision regarding midurethral sling placement. This validated 6-item self-administered questionnaire with a 5 point response scale takes approximately 3 minutes to complete. Participants will complete the Satisfaction with Decision Scale a second time at the time of their 2 week postoperative visit. Three months after surgery, participants will complete the Satisfaction with Decision Scale a third time, along with other validated quality of life questionnaires.