Objective:
The Most Bothersome Symptom Approach (MBSA) assesses symptom severity of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM), and identifies the symptom with the greatest burden. The Atrophy Symptoms Questionnaire (ASQ) assesses the impact of GSM symptoms on the activities of daily living. The psychometric properties of these outcomes remain to be completely assessed. This study aimed to assess the test-retest reliability of the MBSA and the ASQ and their convergent validity.
Method:
One evaluator administered the outcomes twice 2 weeks apart to postmenopausal women with GSM and urinary incontinence. MBSA reliability was assessed with the graphical analysis of paired differences, Kappa coefficients and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), and the ASQ reliability, with paired t test and ICC. The convergent validity of both outcomes was investigated through their association with the Pearson correlation coefficient.
Results:
Thirty-one women participated in the study. For the MBSA, the severity of the most bothersome symptom obtained a good reliability with 80% observed agreement between sessions, a substantial kappa (0.67 ± 0.12) and excellent ICC (0.88 [95% confidence interval 0.75-0.94]). For the ASQ, no significant difference was found between sessions (P = 0.146) and ICC indicated excellent reliability (0.85 [95% confidence interval 0.69-0.93]). There was a large, positive correlation between the severity of the most bothersome symptom selected by the participants in the MBSA and the ASQ total score for the two measurement sessions (T1: r = 0.587, P = 0.001 and T2: r = 0.601, P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
The MBSA and the ASQ are reliable outcome measures in postmenopausal women with GSM and urinary incontinence. Our findings support good convergent validity of those two outcomes as they showed a significant positive correlation between the severity of GSM symptoms and their impact on activities of daily living.
Less than half of women with urinary incontinence (UI) receive treatment, despite the high prevalence and negative impact of UI and the evidence supporting the efficacy of pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT). A non-inferiority randomized controlled trial aiming to support healthcare systems in delivering continence care showed that group-based PFMT was non-inferior and more cost-effective than individual PFMT to treat UI in older women. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of providing online treatment options. Therefore, this pilot study aimed to assess the feasibility of an online group-based PFMT program for UI in older women. Thirty-four older women took part in the program. Feasibility was assessed from both participant and clinician perspectives. One woman dropped out. Participants attended 95.2% of all scheduled sessions, and the majority (32/33, 97.0%) completed their home exercises 4 to 5 times per week. Most women (71.9%) were completely satisfied with the program’s effects on their UI symptoms after completion. Only 3 women (9.1%) reported that they would like to receive additional treatment. Physiotherapists reported high acceptability. The fidelity to the original program guidelines was also good. An online group-based PFMT program appears feasible for the treatment of UI in older women, from both participant and clinician perspectives.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.