Measuring Urological Aspects in Spinal Cord Injury

Abstract

This chapter aims to describe and evaluate the assessment tools for evaluating urological aspects for people with SCI through a systematic review of scientific literature. The systematic review was conducted in line with COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) on Pubmed, Scopus, CINAHL, and Web of Science. After removing duplicates, 3333 papers were screened. Of these, 476 were included in this systematic review. Among these, 33 papers were considered for this chapter. Results show 20 assessment tools that evaluate the urological area in persons with SCI. Among these, most scales evaluate the aspect of intermittent self-catheterization, neurogenic bladder, and sexuality. The most common assessment tools are the Qualiveen, which comprises 30 questions that assess general and urinary quality of life; the Intermittent Self-Catheterization Questionnaire (ISC-Q) which is a self-reported outcome measure that contains domains such as ease of use, convenience, discreetness, and psychological well-being; the Neurogenic Bladder Symptom Score (NBSS) which assesses lower urinary tract symptoms in patients with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction; and, the Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ), which evaluates symptoms of sexual dysfunction (SD) such as impaired genital sensation, reduction of libido, or symptoms indirectly influencing sexual function, such as spasticity, pain, or discomfort in nongenital areas of the body or psychological, emotional, social, and cultural aspects that impact sexual function.