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SUFU 2021: Identifying Patient-Centered Research Priorities in Overactive Bladder by Crowdsourcing

(UroToday.com) The aim of this study was to use Amazon MTurk to identify research topics prioritized by patients with overactive bladder (OAB). Amazon MTurk is a crowdsourcing platform. Users were invited to complete a survey on OAB Research. The Overactive Bladder Awareness Tool – 3 item (OABV3) was used to screen participants. Those that scored 4 or greater took a research prioritization survey. The survey included a choice of 10 research topics in categories including patient-provider communication, diagnosis, treatment, and work/disability. The participants ranked their top 5 research priorities from most important to least important. In addition, basic demographic data, OAB-q SF validated questionnaire, fluid intake, diuretic use, duration, and bother of OAB symptoms were collected. 100 MTurk users that took the OAB-V3 screening questionnaire yielding 45 eligible and 38 were included in the analysis.

Participants had a mean age of 34±10 years old, were 66% female and 81% had at least a college degree. Half of the participants were white, 26% were Asian and 8% were black. Participants reported having symptoms for at least six months (58%), and symptoms that occur on at least half of the days of the year (47%). Additionally, 61% of participants have sought treatment for their OAB, a surprisingly high number. Participants had a mean OAB-q severity score of 51.0 and mean health-related quality of life score of 43.4. Participants categorized research categories: etiology (15%), treatment (14%) and implementing new findings (13%). The authors felt that Amazon MTurk offers a potentially valuable population to crowdsource research priorities in OAB.

Presented by: Aidan Kennedy, Riley Kennedy, Olga Goloubeva, Phillippe Zimmern, Rena Malik, University of Maryland School of Medicine, George Washington University Department of Computer Science, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Written by: Diane K. Newman, DNP, CRNP, FAAN, BCB-PMD, Nurse Practioner and Co-Director, Penn Center for Continence and Pelvic Health Adjunct Professor of Urology in Surgery during the 2021 Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU) Winter Meeting.