Evaluating Decision Regret in Patients Who Have Undergone Sacral Neuromodulation

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Medical Device Research
• Patient Outcomes

Background:

• Sacral neuromodulation (SNM) is a treatment for lower urinary tract dysfunction.
• Assessing patient satisfaction and regret is crucial for understanding treatment effectiveness.
• Decision regret can impact long-term patient well-being and device adherence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify decision regret in patients who received sacral neuromodulation.
• To explore correlations between regret scores and symptom relief, complications, and device status.
• To evaluate the influence of military deployment on decision regret after SNM.

Main Methods:

• A validated decision regret tool was administered via telephone survey to assess patient regret.
• Regret scores were calculated, with a cutoff of 50 distinguishing minimal from significant regret.
• Comparative statistics analyzed correlations between regret scores and clinical outcomes, including device explantation and symptom improvement.

Main Results:

• Of 96 participants, the mean age was 49.8 years, with 58.3% females.
• Patients with symptom improvement had significantly lower regret scores (5.4 ± 9.2) than those without (44.1 ± 27.6).
• Higher regret scores were associated with device complications and explantation, while military deployment showed no correlation.

Conclusions:

• Decision regret associated with sacral neuromodulation is generally low.
• Adverse outcomes such as poor symptom relief, complications, and device explantation correlate with increased regret.
• Military deployment status does not appear to influence decision regret following SNM.