Research participants were followed for 12 months. They were asked to complete a Short Form 12 (SF-12) questionnaire every two months to prospectively assess their quality of life. In addition, subjects were asked to complete the Genitourinary Pain Index quality of life Index (GUPI) biweekly. Other notable collected information included surveys related to stress, anxiety, depression, personality traits, severity and duration of UCPPS, urinary symptoms, pain site mapping, and sleep patterns. HRQOL was analyzed by utilizing functional clustering algorithm and assigning participants to the stable, worse, or improved HRQOL groups.
The sample population included 191 male and 233 female subjects with UCPPS (Figure).
According to the presenter, physical HRQOL has increased in 22.1%, didn’t change in 47.0%, and decreased in 30.9% of study participants. Complex non-urologic medical symptoms (for example, nausea and fatigue) and older age were significantly associated with the worsening of HRQOL (Table 1).
Mental HRQOL improved in 25.5%, remained stable 43.3%, and worsened in 30.9% of study participants. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that depression, perceived stress, and female sex were associated with a decrease in HRQOL (Table 2).
The research demonstrated that mental and physical HRQOL in patients with UCPPS depends on multiple factors. More severe UCPPS was linked to less improvement in HRQOL. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach is needed to address the reduction in HRQOL in men and women with chronic pelvic pain.
Presented by: J. Quentin Clemens, MD, Associate Chair for Research, Urology, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Co-authors: Alisa Stephens-Shields, Craig Newcomb, Philadelphia, PA, Larissa Rodriguez, Los Angeles, CA, H. Henry Lai, St. Louis, MO, Catherine Bradley, Iowa City, IA, Bruce Naliboff, Los Angeles, CA, James Griffith, Chicago, IL, Siobhan Sutcliffe, St. Louis, MO, Bayley Taple, Chicago, IL, Priyanka Gupta, Ann Arbor, MI, Niloo Afari, San Diego, CA, Steve Harte, Ann Arbor, MI, Eric Strachan, Seattle, WA, J. Richard Landis, Philadelphia, PA
Written by: Hanna Stambakio, BS, Clinical Research Coordinator, Division of Urology, University of Pennsylvania, Twitter: @AStambakio at the American Urological Association's 2019 Annual Meeting (AUA 2019), May 3 – 6, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois