New Self-Reporting Questionnaire to Assess Urinary Tract Infections and Differential Diagnosis: Acute Cystitis Symptom Score

Abstract

Objective: Development and validation of a simple and standardized self-reporting questionnaire for acute uncomplicated cystitis (AUC) assessing typical and differential symptoms, quality of life and possible changes after therapy in female patients with AUC. Materials and Methods: Literature research, development and evaluation of the Acute Cystitis Symptom Score (ACSS), an 18-item self-reporting questionnaire including (a) six questions about ‘typical' symptoms of AUC, (b) four questions regarding differential diagnoses, (c) three questions on quality of life and (d) five questions on additional conditions which may affect therapy. The ACSS was evaluated in 286 women (mean age 32.3 ± 12.3 years) in the Russian and Uzbek language. Measurements of reliability, validity, predictive ability and responsiveness were performed. Results: Cronbach's alpha for the ACSS was 0.89, split-half reliability was 0.92 and correlation between halves was 0.85. Mann-Whitney test revealed significant difference scores of the ‘typical' domain between patients and controls (10.75 vs. 2.02, p < 0.001). The optimal threshold score was 6 points, with a 94% sensitivity and 90% specificity to predict AUC. The symptom score decreased significantly when comparing before and after therapy (10.7 vs. 2.1, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The new validated ACSS is accurate enough and can be recommended for clinical studies and practice for initial diagnosis and monitoring treatment of AUC. Evaluation in other languages is in progress. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel

The Acute Cystitis Symptom Score for Patient-Reported Outcome Assessment

“…The development of the ACSS and the total study population were described earlier in detail [1]. A subgroup of patients who returned to a follow-up visit (n = 63) was also asked to fill in the part B (follow-up form) of the ACSS.…”

“…The Acute Cystitis Symptom Score (ACSS) was developed and validated as a self-reporting questionnaire for diagnosing acute uncomplicated cystitis (AUC) in female patients by assessing typical and differential symptoms, quality of life (QoL) and additional health conditions, which may play an important role in such a clinical setting [1]. The evaluation in 286 women in Uzbek and Russian language revealed significant differences of the scores in the domain with typical symptoms and QoL between female patients with AUC and controls.…”

“…In part of the patients, a follow-up visit was performed. The overall symptom score decreased significantly when comparing before and after therapy [1]. …”

The 2017 Update of the German Clinical Guideline on Epidemiology, Diagnostics, Therapy, Prevention, and Management of Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections in Adult Patients: Part 1

“…The diagnosis of uncomplicated cystitis based on clinical criteria may be considered with high probability (sensitivity of 94.7%, specificity of 82.4%) with the use of the validated questionnaire (Acute Cystitis Symptom Score [ACSS]) [12], which assesses the severity of the symptoms and the course of the disease (IIb). The validated questionnaire ACSS may be considered to follow the course of cystitis over time and the effect of therapy (IIb) [13]. The ACSS questionnaire is translated and validated in several languages (www.acss.world).…”

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Parallel-Group, Multicenter Clinical Study of <b><i>Escherichia coli</i></b>-Lyophilized Lysate for the Prophylaxis of Recurrent Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections

“…It is estimated that 50-60% of women will experience at least one UTI episode in their lifetime [1,2], leading to a variety of symptoms [3,4]. The incidence of UTIs is highest in females aged 18-24 years [1].…”