A new questionnaire for urinary incontinence diagnosis in women: development and testing

The purpose of this study was to develop a questionnaire for urinary incontinence diagnosis in women and to test its reliability and validity, with incontinence specialists' clinical evaluations as the gold standard.

One hundred seventeen urogynecology outpatients with urinary incontinence symptoms completed the Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis at enrollment and 1 week and 9 months later. Baseline clinical diagnoses were compared with Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis diagnoses (criterion validity). Nine-month Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis change scores were compared across treatment groups (responsiveness).

Clinical diagnoses included stress (n = 15), urge (n = 26), and mixed urinary incontinence (n = 72). Internal consistency and test-retest reliability estimates were good. Sensitivity and specificity were 85% (95% CI, 75%, 91%) and 71% (95% CI, 51%, 87%), respectively, for stress urinary incontinence and 79% (95% CI, 69%, 86%) and 79% (95% CI, 54%, 94%), respectively, for urge urinary incontinence. The Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis correctly diagnosed urinary incontinence type in 80% of subjects. Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis Stress and Urge scores decreased significantly in treated subjects.

The Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis, a new 6-item questionnaire for female urinary incontinence type diagnosis, is reliable and able to diagnose stress urinary incontinence and urge urinary incontinence in a referral urogynecology patient population with accuracy.