Patient satisfaction with stress incontinence surgery

To identify predictors and correlates of patient satisfaction 24 months after Burch colpopexy or autologous fascial sling for treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

Participants were the 655 randomized subjects in the Stress Incontinence Surgical Treatment Efficacy Trial (SISTEr). Variables potentially associated with satisfaction were tested in bivariate analysis, including demographics, baseline clinical characteristics of incontinence, and outcomes on validated subjective and objective measures. Satisfaction with treatment was defined as a response of "completely satisfied" or "mostly satisfied" on the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire (PSQ) at 24 months. Variables significantly related to satisfaction were entered into multivariable regression models to test their independent association with satisfaction.

At 24 months post-surgery, 480 (73%) participants completed the PSQ. Mean (±SD) age of the sample was 52 (±10) years and 77% were white. Most (82%) were completely or mostly satisfied with their surgery related to urine leakage. In the final multivariable model, patient satisfaction was associated with greater reduction in SUI symptoms (from baseline to 24 months; OR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.10, 1.24) and greater reductions in symptom distress (OR = 1.16; CI: 1.08, 1.24). Lower odds of satisfaction were associated with greater urge incontinence symptoms at baseline (OR = 0.09, CI: 0.04, 0.22), detrusor overactivity at 24 months (OR = 0.29, CI: 0.12, 0.69), and a positive stress test at 24 months (OR = 0.45, CI: 0.22, 0.91).

Stress incontinent women who also have urge incontinence symptoms may benefit from additional preoperative counseling to set realistic expectations about potential surgical outcomes or proactive treatment of urge incontinence symptoms to minimize their post-operative impact.