Three focus groups with 14 postmenopausal women (aged 52 to 81 years old) and three focus groups with 15 premenopausal women (aged 20 to 46 years old) were conducted by a clinician moderator. Participants were asked questions related to UTI knowledge, prevention strategies, the role of antibiotics in treatment, treatment alternatives, and impact on quality of life. Grounded theory methods were used to analyze focus group transcripts. Themes identified in the postmenopausal groups were then compared and contrasted to those reported amongst premenopausal women.
Pre- and postmenopausal women sought information from different sources, which impacted the extent of their knowledge about rUTI pathophysiology and treatment. They expressed differences in rUTI treatment and prevention preferences, including variability in the desire for shared decision making and perception of the role of self-versus physician in this process. The two groups also displayed dissimilarity in managing the uncertainty experienced with rUTIs and in the mechanisms employed for coping with the condition. Participants from both groups displayed similarities in the triggers identified for UTIs, the distressing impact the condition has on quality of life, concern for the financial burden of rUTIs and frustration with the medical community’s current management of their condition.
While rUTIs appear to have similar adverse effects on the lives of pre- and postmenopausal women, postmenopausal women exhibit inferior knowledge about UTI pathophysiology and anatomy and display unique knowledge acquisition sources, treatment preferences, and expectations of medical providers. Physicians need to address the frustration with the current management of rUTIs experienced by women of all ages and employ different strategies for managing pre- and postmenopausal women.
Figure 2: Results: Patient Perceptions
Presented by: Taylor Sadun, MD, Department of Urology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California
Written by: Bilal Farhan, MD, Clinical Instructor, Female Urology and Voiding Dysfunction, Department of Urology, University of California, Irvine @Bilalfarhan79 at the Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction Winter Meeting, SUFU 2019, February 26 - March 2, 2019, Miami, Florida