Editorial Comment

Abstract

Both stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and overactive bladder (OAB) have been reported to negatively impact the quality of life (QOL) and sexual function of women. The authors compared the impact of SUI and the OAB syndrome on health-related QOL and sexual function in female patients, using two questionnaires: Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (BFLUTS) and Short-Form 36 (SF-36). Only one domain of SF-36 was significantly different between SUI and OAB, and no other evident difference was demonstrated between the two conditions. When comparing the impacts of these two conditions on QOL, two important points should be taken into consideration. One is the accuracy of diagnosis. It is difficult to distinguish SUI from urgency incontinence based on subjective symptoms. Although only 17 patients were diagnosed as having mixed incontinence and these were excluded from the study, this number is too small for the sample sizes of 123 patients with SUI and 122 with OAB. The other point is the importance of urgency incontinence as a factor associated with QOL impairment. Since OAB is defined as urinary urgency with or without urgency incontinence, generally with frequency and nocturia, patients with urgency incontinence (wet OAB) and without incontinence (dry OAB) belong to the same disease category. In the present study, the number of patients with urgency incontinence among the 122 patients with the OAB syndrome is not clearly indicated. However, from the viewpoint of QOL, considering wet OAB and dry OAB as the same entity might be inappropriate.