The bladder diary: do women perceive it as a useful investigation?

The completion of a bladder diary is routinely undertaken as part of the initial assessment of women presenting with lower urinary tract symptoms. Anecdotally some women find it a nuisance to fill in a fluid volume chart. The QQ10 is a questionnaire which has been developed to evaluate the use of other questionnaires or investigations. This study aims to assess women's perception of completing a bladder diary as part of their investigative process and to identify reasons why some may fail to complete one.

All women attending a one-stop urogynaecology clinic were sent instructions to fill in a three-day bladder diary. Those who filled a diary in were asked to fill in a QQ10 questionnaire. Those who did not fill one in were asked to give a reason for not doing so.

128 women attended the clinic over a study period. Of these 100 (78%) completed a diary and hence a modified QQ10 form and 28 women (22%) did not. The mean value score was found to be high, at 72.6 (SD 17.87) whilst the mean burden score was low at only 27.7 (SD. 21.14). The majority of women who did not fill one in claimed they had not received a diary in the first place.

Most women appear to fill in a diary. The high mean value score and the low mean burden score indicate that women do not find filling in a diary a particularly onerous task.