The choice of therapeutic agent in female overactive bladder patients in real-world practice

The reasons why anticholinergic drugs or β3 adrenergic agonists are selected as treatments for overactive bladder (OAB) are unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the background data of female OAB patients that were prescribed anticholinergic drugs or β3 adrenergic agonists in a real-world setting. Between January 2013 and December 2014, 75 patients who had been diagnosed with OAB were included in this study. Administered medications, age, the persistence on treatment rate at one-year, medical history, pretreatment total Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS), pretreatment score for each OABSS factor, body mass index (BMI), and various comorbidities were evaluated retrospectively. Since there were many types of anticholinergic drugs and few patients, we grouped the patients into those that were prescribed anticholinergic drugs (group A) and those that were prescribed β3 adrenergic agonists (group B). 75 patients (29 in group A and 46 in group B) were included in this study. There were no significant differences in age, BMI, obesity, medical history, pretreatment total OABSS, or pretreatment score for each OABSS factor. There was a significant difference in the post-voiding residual urine volume (PVR) between the groups (group A: 22 ml, group B: 9 ml; p = 0.0252). The 1-year persistence on treatment rate was 28% in both groups. There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics of patients who were prescribed anticholinergics and β3 adrenergic agonists for OAB treatment, but a marginal difference of PVR value before treatment. The 1-year persistence rates of anticholinergic drugs and β3 adrenergic agonists were considered to be almost equivalent.