Faculty Bibliography

Objective: To identify barriers multiple sclerosis (MS) patients experience in seeking evaluation for urinary symptoms and its relationship to the Actionable Bladder Symptom and Screening Tool (ABSST). Background: The ABSST is used to identify urinary symptoms in patients with MS and may identify patients in need of referral and evaluation for neurogenic overactive bladder symptoms (NDO). Although up to 80% of MS patients may experience urinary symptoms, evaluation by a specialist and treatment are under-utilized in this population. Methods: This was a prospective observational study. 100 patients with MS, but currently not seeing a genitourinary specialist were enrolled from an MS comprehensive center with a Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (FPMRS) physician on staff. Patients completed demographic information, a short form of the ABSST and questions to assess barriers to seeking a specialist for bladder problems. An ABSST score >3 met criteria for referral and evaluation. In addition they were asked a single item question about their desire to be evaluated by a specialist for bladder problems. Two-month after enrollment, follow up calls assessed whether patients had seen a specialist to assess their urinary complaints. X² tests were used to compare categorical variables. Results: Of the 100 patients, there were 79 women and 21 men, mean age was 44.5 years and average time since diagnosis of MS was 10.4 years. Ethnicities included 45% Caucasian, 21% African American, 21% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 11% Other/Multiracial. Overall, 40% of patients indicated that they would want to see a specialist to evaluate their bladder symptoms and 33% of patients had already seen one in the past. Most frequent reasons for seeking prior care were incontinence (46%) and recurrent UTIs (24%). Overall, the most common barriers to seeking care included "Doctor never referred" (18%), "Doctor never asked" (15%), "Had enough problems to deal with" (15%), "Thought there were no treatments available" (12.5%) and "Felt embarrassed" (10%). 40% of men stated "Doctor had never referred or asked" compared to 10% of women (p=0.002). 27 patients had an ABSST Score>3 and were more interested in seeing a specialist compared to those scoring <3 (91% vs. 40%; p= .000). When compared to patients with an ABSST<3, those with an ABSST>3 had a significant difference in level of education (p<0.05), type of mobility used (p<0.05), and employment status (p=0.005). Patients with an ABSST >3 cited limitations associated with insurance, cost, transportation, or inaccessibility more often than those with an ABSST <3 (9% vs. 3%, p=0.009). After 2 months, 49 patients were reached for follow up. Despite persistent or worsening urinary symptoms in some patients, only 1 participant had followed up. Conclusions: The ABSST is a valuable tool to identify MS patients with urinary symptoms and willingness to seek evaluation. Identification of this need alone unfortunately did not result in a significant increase in evaluation, despite ongoing symptoms. This underscores that other barriers, beyond awareness such as communication, costs and logistics, play a tremendous role preventing patients getting the evaluation that is needed. Further work is required to elucidate these factors

Objective: s To characterize a sample of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) that would be recommended for evaluation by an expert in bladder dysfunction based on the Actionable Bladder Symptom and Screening Tool (ABSST), and to correlate the ABSST with several commonly used questionnaires including the Overactive Bladder Questionnaire (OABq), Patient Global Impression of Severity (PGI-S), International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire (ICIQ), and Medical Epidemiology and Social Aspects of Aging (MESA). Background: Although up to 80% of patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience lower urinary tract symptoms, evaluation and treatments are significantly under accessed. The (ABSST) is a newly validated tool that can be used in patients with MS to screen for neurogenic overactive bladder symptoms (NDO). It is a simple 8-item questionnaire that aids in identifying patients that need a referral for evaluation. Methods: This was a prospective observational study. 100 patients diagnosed with MS, not currently seeing a bladder dysfunction specialist, were enrolled from an MS center. After obtaining consent, patients were asked to fill out a validated short form of the ABSST, the OABq short form, the PGI-S, the ICIQ and the MESA. An ABSST score >3 is considered a positive screening test and met criteria for referral to a specialist. OAB subscale scores grouped responses related to symptom bother and Quality of life (HRQL), which was further subdivided into HRQL-Coping, HRQL-Sleep, or HRQL-Emotions. A high score for the symptoms subscale indicated worse symptoms and a low score of the quality of life subscales indicated worse quality of life. The MESA scores grouped responses that characterized either urgency or stress incontinence. There were no subscales for PGIS or ICIQ. Mean questionnaire scores were compared between patients who screened positive or negative for the ABSST using one-way ANOVA and X2 tests. Results: Patient's mean age was 44.5 years and average time since diagnosis was 10.4 years. There were 79 women and 21 men. Ethnicities included 45% Caucasian, 21% African American, 21% Hispanic, 2% Asian, and 11% Other/Multiracial. 27 patients had an ABSST Score >3. When compared to patients with an ABSST<3, those with an ABSST>3 had a significant difference in level of education (p<0.05), level of mobility (p<0.05), and employment status (p=0.005). See figure 1. Patients with an ABSST>3 were more likely to have seen a doctor in the past for bladder problems (52% vs. 27%; p=0.019), more frequently for urinary incontinence (19%) and urinary tract infections (13%). They were also more likely to be using medications for bladder symptoms (23% vs. 4%; p=0.004) or to have used them in the past (42% vs. 15%; p=0.004). Patients with a positive ABSST had a significant difference in the mean scores of the following subscales: OABq Symptoms (57.4 vs. 15.0; p=0.000); OAB-Total HRQL (50.4 vs. 89.9;p=0.000); OABHRQL Cope (43.4 vs. 89.4;p=0.000); OAB-HRQL Sleep (42.5 vs. 84.2; p=0.000); OAB-HRQL Emotion (62.1 vs. 93.7; p=0.000); MESA-Urgency Incontinence (40.4 vs. 12.3; p=0.000); MESA-Stress Incontinence (33.8 vs.15.0; p=0.000); and ICIQ-SF (8.2 vs. 2.3; p=0.000). There was a significant correlation between PGIS Score and a positive ABSST (p=0.000). Conclusions: The differences observed in MS patients who score positive on the ABSST may represent the progressive nature of some cases of MS and its association with NDO. A positive screening response correlates and captures the severity of symptoms, impact on quality of life and classifications of both urinary incontinence across several overactive bladder and urinary incontinence questionnaires. These findings highlight the importance of continued screening in MS patients for NDO, even when patients have been evaluated or treated in the past. This need makes the ABSST a valuable simple tool for providers to efficiently identify and refer MS patients for further evaluation and treatment. (Figure presented)

Introduction: Social media networks and websites are an important source of healthcare information exchange. Despite the quantity of information, there is growing evidence for poor quality medical information that may be misleading and biased. Some studies suggest information available online on controversial topics may disperse inaccurate information and contribute to public confusion. Objective: The goal of this study is to examine information available in YouTube videos on a controversial urologic topic, pelvic organ prolapse (POP) repairs with mesh. Methods: A keyword search of ''vaginal POP repair with mesh'' was performed and the first 100 search results examined on 7/29/13. Videos not in English, lacking spoken words, or duration 910 minutes were excluded. Video characteristics including source (legal, medical, other), number of views, time online and duration were recorded. The content of each video was assessed in the following domains: description of POP, management of POP, explanation of the 2011 FDA Safety Communication, and balanced presentation of information. Scores were assigned based on whether the video made a series of objective statements pertaining to each domain, The proportion of statements made in the video per domain was calculated and videos of different sources were compared. Significance was assessed by t test. Results: 51 videos were excluded, and the remaining 49 were viewed. The sources were 69% legal firm, 24% medical institution, and 7% other. The former 2 groups were compared. Videos from medical institutions were older (online for 31.6 vs. 14.2 months, p lt; 0.01), longer (249 vs 99 seconds, p lt; 0.01), and had more views per month (784 vs. 140 , p lt; 0.01) when compared to legal videos. Legal videos explained more aspects of the 2011 FDA Safety Communication (0.22 vs. 0.07; p<0.01). Medical videos did not show a significant difference in addressing aspects of other domains including description of POP (0.25 vs. 0.12, p=0.087, management of POP (0.2 vs. 0.14, p=0.086), or presentation of balanced information (0.10 vs. 0.06; p=.528). Conclusions: The majority of information available in YouTube videos on the topic of vaginal POP repair with mesh is recent, short, and published through legal services that outline the 2011 FDA Safety communication but contain less comprehensive descriptions of POP compared to other videos. However, low overall scores in all domains studied, regardless of source, demonstrate lack of content. This raises questions about the utility of YouTube as a source of information for patients

Although the male sling is a popular and effective option to treat stress urinary incontinence, the reported success rates are highly variable. Detailed knowledge of the factors affecting male sling outcome can improve clinical efficacy and provide realistic expectations for patients. The objective of this article is to review the current literature that identifies factors associated with surgical outcome, with the goal of optimizing pre-operative selection criteria. Since most practitioners prefer the transobturator approach, the retrourethral transobturator sling (i.e., AdVanceâ„¢ sling) is the focus of this review.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of office-based ultrasound (US) to identify the fluid status of the AMS 800 artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) pressure-regulating balloon (PRB). METHODS: Patients who underwent AUS revision surgery (removal/replacement) from January 4, 2007, to January 4, 2010, were identified. US were done preoperatively to assess the system fluid status. Intraoperative findings were recorded. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated comparing US results with intra-/postoperative findings. When the PRB was underfilled, the location of the device fluid leak was determined, and the device was removed/replaced. In cases of a full PRB, patients had a cuff downsizing or total removal/replacement. RESULTS: A total of 27 patients were identified. Reasons for not obtaining US included: advanced device age (4), cuff erosion (2), volume determination by other modality (2), cuff site pain (1), isolated pump malfunctions (1), and other (3). Fourteen patients underwent an US before the removal/replacement. By US, PRB was full (21-23 mL) in 43% of the patients and empty/underfilled (0-6 mL) in 57%. US was 100% sensitive and specific determining fluid status. When PRB was full, management consisted of cuff downsizing (3), transcorporal cuff placement (1), and total removal/replacement (2). In all cases of device leak, an entire removal/replacement was performed. The cuff was identified as the site of leak in 50% of cases. CONCLUSION: US is an effective and accurate way of determining the fluid status of the AMS 800 AUS. Given the accuracy of this modality, the system can be filled with saline solution without losing the ability to determine fluid status.