Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) affect a considerable number of people worldwide, inflicting significant impact on their daily lives. Adequate tools that accurately assess LUTS are therefore vital to aid diagnosis and monitor treatment. Urinary diaries provide an inexpensive, non-invasive method and are frequently used to evaluate LUTS in clinical practice and research trials. Despite their common use, a validated diary does not exist. Diaries appear to have evolved in an ad hoc manner, adapted to reflect different patients or conditions under investigation, resulting in numerous designs. The need for a standardised validated urinary diary was therefore evident. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies were employed to develop the urinary diary. In phase 1, patient and clinician opinion was sought on diary content, format and duration using interviews and questionnaires. Including both opinions guaranteed that the resultant diary would be applicable and understandable to those asked to complete it, whilst ensuring the diary remained clinically relevant. Key themes were identified and incorporated into four draft diaries for further assessment. Applying an iterative process, four rounds of content validation using patient-completed diaries or interviews, and one round of clinician opinion were undertaken before a consensus was achieved. The final draft diary developed in phase 1 was subsequently subjected to further psychometric validation in phase 2. Construct validity, criterion validity and reliability of the diary were proven. Analysis of diary duration demonstrated that a reduction in diary length was feasible without significantly compromising reliability. Pilot analysis of diary responsiveness has shown that the diary is sensitive to change and further analysis will be the focus of future research. Ultimately, a valid and reliable three day diary has been produced and is recommended for the assessment of all patients with LUTS to provide a quantitative, objective measure of lower urinary tract function.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:602666 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Bright, Elizabeth Anne |
| Contributors | Abrams, Paul |
| Publisher | University of Leicester |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://hdl.handle.net/2381/28826 |
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