Minimal important difference and patient acceptable symptom state for PFDI-20 and POPDI-6 in POP surgery.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Patient-reported outcome measures are fundamental tools when assessing effectiveness of treatments. The challenge lies in the interpretation: which magnitude of change in score is meaningful for the patients? The minimal important difference (MID) is defined as the smallest difference in score that patients perceive as important. The Patient Acceptable Symptom State (PASS) represents the value of score beyond which patients consider themselves well. We aimed to determine the MID and PASS for Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20 (PFDI-20) and Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory-6 (POPDI-6) in pelvic organ prolapse (POP) surgery. METHODS: We used data from 2704 POP surgeries from a prospective, population-based cohort. MID was determined with three anchor-based and one distribution-based method. PASS was defined using two different methods. Medians of the estimates were identified. RESULTS: The MID estimates with (1) mean change, (2) receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve, (3) 75th percentile, and (4) distribution-based method varied between 22.9-25.0 (median 24.2) points for PFDI-20 and 9.0-12.5 (median 11.3) for POPDI-6. The PASS cutoffs with (1) 75th percentile and (2) ROC curve method varied between 57.7-62.5 (median 60.0) for PFDI-20 and 16.7-17.7 (median 17.2) for POPDI-6. CONCLUSION: A mean difference of 24 points in the PFDI-20 or 11 points in the POPDI-6 can be used as a clinically relevant difference between groups. Postoperative scores ≤ 60 for PFDI-20 and ≤ 17 for POPDI-6 signify acceptable symptom state.

Gynecological aspects as a component of comprehensive geriatric assessment: A study of self-rated symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse among community-dwelling elderly women in Japan.

OBJECTIVES: Despite the reported 'male-female health-survival paradox', no components of the comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) routinely used in the field of geriatrics focus on female-specific symptoms. To investigate the impact of gynecological factors among elderly women, we noted the gynecological history and examined the association between self-rated symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and CGA. STUDY DESIGN: This community-based, cross-sectional study in Japan included 164 community-dwelling women aged ≥75 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The main outcome measures were the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory-6 (POPDI-6), activities of daily living (ADL), and Timed Up and Go (TUG) test. Self-rated symptoms of POP were assessed using POPDI-6, and the participants were dichotomized into POPDI-6 >0 (symptom group) and POPDI-6 = 0 (no-symptom group). Several components of the CGA were compared between the groups with and without symptoms of POP and the association with POPDI-6 score was analyzed by multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Compared with the no-symptom group, the symptom group had significantly longer TUG test time (≥13.5 s) (P = 0.024) and difficulty in basic ADL (score <21) (P = 0.02). In multiple logistic regression analysis, basic ADL <21 and TUG time ≥13.5 s were significantly associated with POPDI-6 >0 (odds ratio [OR] = 2.78; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.10-7.06 and OR = 3.45; 95% CI = 1.01-1.24). CONCLUSIONS: Self-rated POP symptoms were associated with CGA components among community-dwelling elderly women. Evaluating POP symptoms as part of the CGA could be meaningful for improving physical and psychological health in elderly women.