Assessing the Correlation of At-home Audio Testing and In-office Uroflowmetry: Moving Towards a New Gold-standard

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Medical Devices
• Digital Health

Background:

• Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) diagnosis relies on in-clinic uroflowmetry.
• In-clinic testing may not reflect natural voiding patterns.
• Novel methods for accurate LUTS assessment are needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the accuracy and reliability of audio-based uroflowmetry with the in-clinic gold standard.
• To evaluate the utility of a phone application for home uroflowmetry.

Main Methods:

• Men aged 18+ with LUTS underwent in-office uroflowmetry.
• Participants used the Emano Flow phone application for one week of audio-based uroflowmetry.
• Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) assessed the relationship between conventional and audio-based Qmax, adjusting for void volume.

Main Results:

• Thirty-two participants were recruited; home voiding volumes were higher than clinic volumes.
• Initially, conventional and mean at-home maximum flow rates (Qmax) were not correlated (PCC=0.21, p=0.31).
• After adjusting for void volume, conventional and mean at-home Qmax were significantly correlated (PCC=0.41, p=0.04).

Conclusions:

• In-clinic uroflowmetry may yield uncharacteristically low results.
• Audio-based uroflowmetry, adjusted for void volume, correlates with in-clinic measurements.
• At-home testing holds potential for more accurate LUTS evaluation, warranting further research.