Patient-Reported Goals of Women With Urinary Incontinence in Primary Care.

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Primary Care Medicine
• Women's Health

Background:

• Understanding patient treatment goals for urinary incontinence (UI) is crucial for patient-centered care.
• Most studies on UI treatment goals are from specialty settings, leaving a gap in primary care knowledge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize self-reported treatment goals for UI among women in primary care.
• To examine patient characteristics associated with different UI treatment goal types.

Main Methods:

• Mixed-methods cross-sectional secondary analysis of the "Identify, Teach, and Treat (IT2)" project data.
• Qualitative descriptive analysis of free-text responses regarding UI treatment goals, followed by quantitative comparison of patient characteristics.

Main Results:

• 15.3% of 2,986 women screened for UI reported treatment goals.
• Symptom relief (46.1%) and information seeking (33.6%) were the most common goals.
• Women prioritizing symptom relief were older and had higher International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire (ICIQ) scores; those seeking information preferred to avoid procedures.

Conclusions:

• Urinary incontinence treatment goals in primary care are diverse, multidimensional, and patient-specific.
• Recognizing the granularity of these goals can enhance patient-centered care delivery by clinicians and researchers.