PURPOSE: It has recently been suggested that two distinct clinical phenotypes can be described in patients with UCPPS: Pelvic pain only (PP Only) and pelvic pain and beyond (PP Beyond).
IC/BPS patient data, which included body pain location mapping and associated medical and psychosocial phenotyping, was examined to validate these body pain maps within a cohort of tertiary care female IC/BPS patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Validated questionnaires from 173 diagnosed outpatient female IC/BPS patients included a body pain area diagram, demographics/history, pain assessment, IC/BPS symptoms, depression, anxiety, stress, fatigue, sexual functioning, catastrophizing, QoL and data on other chronic pain conditions. Two pain phenotypes, created based on counts of body locations, PP Only and PP Beyond, were comprehensively examined.
RESULTS: Patients identified with PP Beyond (n=157; 81%) reported more sensory-type pain, poorer physical quality of life, greater somatic depression and sleep disturbance than those categorized as PP Only (n=36; 19%). Sexual pain scored higher in the PP Only group. Furthermore, patients with PP Beyond phenotype report a higher prevalence of IBS and fibromyalgia as well as more general fatigue symptoms and psychiatric conditions.
CONCLUSIONS: Two distinct pain location phenotypes of PP Only and PP Beyond have been demonstrated by our independent analysis of IC/BPS patients. Assessment of clinical phenotypes based on pain patterns has significant ramifications in our improved understanding of both the etiology and management of female patients diagnosed with IC/BPS.
Written by:
Nickel JC, Tripp DA. Are you the author?
Department of Urology; Department of Psychology and Anesthesiology.
Reference: J Urol. 2014 Aug 1. pii: S0022-5347(14)04148-2.
doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2014.07.108
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25092637
UroToday.com Interstitial Cystitis/Painful Bladder Section
