The “bother” of urinary incontinence

Introduction and hypothesis Patient reported measures are important for the evaluation of symptom-specific bother and the distinction between different types of urinary incontinence. The aim of the study was to assess the validity of physician administered visual analogue scales (VAS) for the bother from stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and urge urinary incontinence (UUI). Methods In this prospective cohort study based at a tertiary urogynecological unit, women attending for investigation of lower urinary tract symptoms ( n = 504) were asked to indicate their subjective bother from SUI and UUI on a 10-cm VAS. Clinical assessment, including multichannel urodynamic testing and 4D translabial ultrasound was performed for clinical diagnosis. Linear regression was used to model the average increase in VAS bother score of SUI and UUI for each explanatory variable. Results 74 % ( n = 375) reported symptoms of SUI, with mean bother of 5.7 out of 10 (SD 2.8), and 73 % ( n = 370) symptoms of UUI, with a mean bother of 6.5 out of 10 (SD 2.6). Bother from UUI was positively associated with the symptoms of nocturia ( p