Urogynecological survey in a group of Italian women treated for overactive bladder: Symptoms and quality of life analysis during the Covid-19 period

Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess the impact of life change and social distancing measures, during the Covid-19 outbreak, on the OAB symptoms and quality of life in women underwent different types of treatment. Materials and methods: Observational survey analysis in OAB treated patients was performed. The women showed a greater than 50% improvement during specific therapy for OAB. Population had previously completed bladder diary, OAB-Q symptom, OAB HRQL scale, SF-36 and PGI-I questionnaires. Four weeks after the introduction of the restrictive measures, these women were invited to complete the same questionnaires by e-mail for new evaluation during Covid-19 outbreak. Primary endpoint was changes in number of voids/24h, urgent micturitions/24h, urinary incontinence events/24h, nocturia events. Secondary endpoints were the assessment of the change in the OAB-SF, SF-36 questionnaires and PGI-I satisfaction. Results: Six hundred seventy-three patients were considered. The mean age was 63.21 +/- 10.24 years. Four weeks after the start of the social distancing measures, the increase in mean number of voids/24h (7.13 +/- 1.08 vs 9.76 +/- 2.12, p < 0.0001), urgent micturition episodes/24h (2.65 +/- 1.11 vs 4.57 +/- 1.28, p < 0.0001), nocturia episodes (1.19 +/- 1.21 vs 2.83 +/- 0.94, p < 0.0001) was observed. The OAB symptom scores (32.67 +/- 12.88 vs 51.23 +/- 12.11, p < 0.0001), OAB-HRQL (75.45 +/- 12.76 vs 48.23 +/- 10.34, p < 0.0001), and SF-36 (82.15 +/- 11.78 vs 69.39 +/- 10.85, p < 0.0001) changed significantly. The satisfaction decreased significantly at the PGI-I during the Covid-19 period 79.8% vs 45% (p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The Covid-19 outbreak and the restrictive social distancing measures have negatively influenced the OAB symptoms and quality of life in women underwent different types of treatment. (c) 2021 Taiwan Association of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).