OBJECTIVES: To examine the concordance between clinicians and men diagnosed with prostate cancer on a clinician-derived pathophysiological classification of the following self-reported urinary complications: storage (irritative), voiding (obstructive), and leakage/incontinence.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fourteen urology experts classified 37 urinary function questionnaire items into 3 primary conceptual dimensions (e.g., storage [irritative], voiding [obstructive] and urinary leakage/incontinence) that would best reflect each item's content. In addition, 218 patient participants provided responses to the 37 items. Using classifications by experts to develop the conceptual framework, the structure was tested using confirmatory factor analyses with patient data.
RESULTS: Expert consensus was achieved in the classification of 31 out of 37 items. Using the 3-factor conceptual framework and patient data, the fit indices for the overall correlated factor model suggested an acceptable overall model fit. The analyses of the separate domains showed acceptable fit for the storage/irritative domain and the leaking/incontinence domain. The dimensionality of the voiding/obstructive domain was too difficult to estimate.
CONCLUSIONS: Our analysis found items that conceptually and psychometrically support 2 constructs (leaking/incontinence and storage/irritative). The consistency of this support between the groups suggests a clinical relevance that is useful in treating patients. We have conceptual support for a third hypothesis (voiding/obstructive), although there were too few items to assess this psychometrically. Relative motivating factors of bother and urinary complaints were not addressed and remain an unmet need in this field.
Written by:
Victorson DE, Brucker PS, Bode RK, Eton DT, Talcott JA, Clark JA, Knight SJ, Litwin MS, Moinpour CM, Reeve BB, Aaronson NK, Bennett CL, Herr HW, McGuire M, Shevrin D, McVary K, Cella D. Are you the author?
Department of Medical Social Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, IL.
Reference: Urol Oncol. 2013 Mar 20. pii: S1078-1439(12)00338-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2012.09.006
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23522840
Go "Beyond the Abstract" - Read an article written by Brian T. Helfand, MD, PhD for UroToday.com
UroToday.com Prostate Cancer Section
