Correlation between urinary symptoms and urodynamic findings: Is the bladder an unreliable witness?

The role of urodynamics as the gold standard to investigate bladder function has recently been questioned. We aimed to evaluate the agreement of lower urinary tract symptoms and urodynamic diagnosis and to build predictive models.

Patients who underwent urodynamics for pelvic floor disorders between 2008 and 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Clinical evaluation investigated the presence of genital prolapse, stress urinary incontinence (SUI), overactive bladder (OAB), urge urinary incontinence (UUI), voiding symptoms (VS), and bulging symptoms. The degree of concordance/agreement between symptoms and corresponding urodynamic findings was measured. Multivariate models to predict specific urodynamic findings were built.

1972 women were analyzed. The best agreement was found for SUI and urodynamic SUI, with a proportion of agreement of 0.68 and a Cohen's Kappa of 0.37. Very poor agreement was found for OAB/UUI and detrusor overactivity, voiding dysfunction, and positive post-void residuals. Multivariate models resulted in poor accuracy for all urodynamic findings (AUC range 0.64-0.72).

Lower urinary tract symptoms and gynecological examination are poor predictors of urodynamic findings. This confirms the role of urodynamic assessment in defining bladder function and providing precious information to counsel patients and establishing optimal clinical guidance.