Objective: To investigate if leakage circumstances collected using the Urinary Leakage Circumstances Questionnaire (ULCQ) are correlated with physician diagnosis and urodynamic results and resolve after surgery.
Materials and methods: The ULCQ was developed to investigate leakage circumstances encountered by women with incontinence. Women completed both the ULCQ and the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form before clinical and urodynamic examination. Those who underwent a suburethral sling procedure completed both questionnaires postoperatively. We performed a principal component analysis and evaluated the questionnaire's external properties including construct validity and responsiveness.
Results: One hundred and eighty-six women were included in the validation phase, and 168 underwent suburethral sling procedure. Mean postoperative follow-up was 51 months. Principal component analysis identified 4 dimensions from the 23 leakage circumstances listed in the ULCQ: effort, stimulation, postural, and intercourse; the internal consistency of each dimension was excellent (Cronbach alpha: 0.87, 0.86, 0.82, and 0.79, respectively). Effort (+0.39), stimulation (+0.24), and postural (+0.47) dimensions were correlated with the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence Short Form score; the effort dimension was correlated with greater stress incontinence severity assessed by the physician; the stimulation dimension with urgency and urge incontinence severity assessed by the physician, and with lower volumes during cystometry; and the postural dimension with higher age and lower urethral closure pressure. Each dimension recorded a significant improvement after surgery, with the largest effect size for effort dimension (2.29 [confidence interval 95%: 1.96-2.62]).
Conclusion: The ULCQ is a useful tool for investigating female urinary incontinence and detecting changes after surgery.
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