CHICAGO, IL USA (UroToday.com) - Most people rely on absorbent products, and quality-of-life (QoL) questionnaires can determine how these products are helping patients. The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire that is conceptually clear, valid, reliable, sensitive, and has good psychometric properties for use in both clinical and research settings. These authors developed the PADPROM Questionnaire based on the International Consultation of Incontinence Questionnaire (ICIQ) protocol and comprised of several phases. The poster reported on the psychometric properties of this tool using two distinct methodologies. The validated tool was determined through qualitative methods, literature review, and interviews with pad users in a modified Delphi with expert opinions.
A total of 39 semi-structured interviews with 8 women and 11 men from the study and 20 interviews with women from a previous study were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using comparative methods. The key issues identified were used to generate items for the draft questionnaires and was then tested using cognitive debriefing intervals with a heterogeneous group of pad users (N=34).
Results of the interviews indicated that the overreaching concerns associated with pad use were containing the urine leakage and planning ahead. Important gender differences which affect the daily lives of pad users were also identified. Men expressed greater concerns about pad designs and commonly reported modifying their pads to meet their needs. The men reported that the lack of bins in public toilets made changing and disposing of used pads difficult. Anxiety about security checks while traveling to public events was also a concern voiced by men.
Work on the PADPROM is continuing, and the draft questionnaire reflects concerns of men and women of different ages with both light and moderate incontinence. The authors hope to do further testing.
This study was funded by SCA.
Presented by C. Yearwood-Martin, A. Cottenden, N. Cotterill, and M Fader at the Simon Foundation for Continence's Innovating for Continence Conference Series - April 12 - 13, 2013 - Chicago, Illinois USA
University of Southampton, UK
Reported for UroToday.com by Diane K. Newman, DNP, ANP-BC, FAAN
About the Conference Series
The Innovating for Continence Conference Series is a unique, international, biennial conference for engineers, physicians, nurses, people with incontinence and their caregivers, academics, industry executives, and those with a passion for increased development of creative and efficacious products for the management of incontinence.
The multi-disciplinary meetings attract speakers from a wide range of disciplines and is organized and hosted by The Simon Foundation for Continence (Chicago, IL USA). It is made possible through generous support from individual and industry sponsors.
Professor Alan Cottenden is the ongoing chair for the conference series. He is Professor of Incontinence Technology at University College London, England. Professor Cottenden is the Chair of the Organizing Committee for the biennial conference "Incontinence: The Engineering Challenge" hosted by the UK Institution of Mechanical Engineers along with the committee on Management Using Continence Products of the International Consultation on Incontinence (ICI). He has been involved in continence technology for almost 30 years, working on clinical and basic science aspects as well as product development and international standards work (ISO).
