Evaluating patients' symptoms of overactive bladder by questionnaire: the role of urgency in urinary frequency

To explain what role urinary urgency has on urinary frequency in patients with overactive bladder (OAB).

We prospectively enrolled 102 patients with OAB over a 6-week period. Patients were assessed with the OAB-q and a pilot questionnaire to identify which urinary symptoms were most bothersome and what underlying cause subjects attributed urinary frequency to. Associations between epidemiologic characteristics, OAB-q scores, and subject responses to the pilot questionnaire, were examined for statistical significance with the Pearson chi square test.

The study population comprised 85% women and 15% men, with mean age 67.4 years and mean OAB-q score 54. Subjects reported their most bothersome symptom was: frequency 24.5%, urgency or urgency incontinence 48.0%, nocturia 27.5%. Of the patients most bothered by frequency, 64% identified the International Continence Society definition of urgency or "fear of leakage" as the underlying reason for their frequency. Overall, 82.4% and 48.0% of patients reported urgency or urgency incontinence as a symptom and most bothersome symptom respectively. However, when patients were specifically asked what drives their urinary frequency, these percentages increased to 89.2% and 63.7%.

This pilot study confirms that urgency is a large factor underlying the drive to void frequently in OAB, even when patients do not admit to urgency as the most bothersome symptom.