Qualitative Analysis of Patient Experiences Reaching Urethroplasty for Recurrent Urethral Stricture Disease.

PURPOSE: Despite the inferior outcomes, urethral stricture patients often undergo multiple endoscopic procedures prior to undergoing definitive urethroplasty. We sought to qualitatively evaluate the patient experience of obtaining urethroplasty to better understand the impact of this experience on quality of life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients treated with urethroplasty between September 2019 and July 2021 were identified and invited to participate in our study if they had undergone ≥ 2 endoscopic procedures prior to urethroplasty. Semistructured telephone interviews were conducted, coded, and analyzed using an iterative inductive-deductive approach. RESULTS: Of the 105 urethroplasty patients during the study period, 50 (47.6%) had undergone ≥ 2 endoscopic procedures prior (IQR 3-5), of whom 20 participated in the study. Qualitative themes related to repeat endoscopic procedures included unmet treatment expectations, dissatisfaction with catheterization and repeat procedures, and negative impacts of recurrent stricture symptoms and treatments on quality of life. External factors associated with a delay to urethroplasty included financial constraints, surgeon access, and time off work. CONCLUSIONS: A trajectory of declining quality of life and unmet treatment expectations are the primary factors driving the decision to proceed with urethroplasty. However, external factors such as recovery costs and access to specialists play important roles in delaying surgery. These findings illustrate the need for improved community provider education and patient counseling to better inform expectations of both patients and providers with various treatment outcomes. Furthermore, these data highlight the need to improve access to specialized care for urethral stricture patients.

Sexual Dysfunction in Women after Traumatic Pelvic Fracture Negatively Affects Quality of Life and Mental Health.

BACKGROUND: While the impact of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) on mental health and overall health-related quality of life (HrQOL) has been previously documented, no prior work has evaluated this relationship in women following traumatic pelvic injuries. AIM: This study aims to understand the relationship of FSD with HrQOL and depression in women with a history of traumatic pelvic fracture. METHODS: Data were collected with an electronic survey that included queries regarding mental and sexual health. Inverse probability weighting and multivariate regression models were utilized to assess the relationships between sexual dysfunction, depression and HrQOL. OUTCOMES: Study outcome measures included the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) to evaluate sexual functioning, the 8-item patient health questionnaire (PHQ-8) to assess depression symptoms, and the visual analog scale (VAS) component of the EuroQol 5 Dimensions Questionnaire (EQ-5D) to determine self-reported HrQOL. RESULTS: Women reporting FSD had significantly higher PHQ-8 scores with a median PHQ-8 score of 6 (IQR 2, 11) relative to those without FSD who had a median score of 2 (IQR 0, 2) (P < .001). On multivariate linear regression, presence of FSD was significantly associated with higher PHQ-8 scores (ß = 4.91, 95% CI 2.8-7.0, P < .001). FSFI score, time from injury, and age were all independently associated with improved HrQOL, with FSFI having the largest effect size (ß = 0.62, 95% CI 0.30-0.95, P < .001). CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: These results underscore importance of addressing not just sexual health, but also mental health in female pelvic fracture survivors in the post-injury setting. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: This study is one of the first to examine women with traumatic pelvic fractures who did not sustain concomitant urinary tract injuries. Study limitations include low response rate and the inherent limitations of a cross-sectional study design. CONCLUSION: Patients with persistent, unaddressed FSD after pelvic fracture are at unique risk for experiencing depression and reporting worse health-related quality of life due to complex biopsychosocial mechanisms. Gambrah HA, Hagedorn JC, Dmochowski RR, et al. Sexual Dysfunction in Women after Traumatic Pelvic Fracture Negatively Affects Quality of Life and Mental Health. J Sex Med 2022;19:1759-1765.

Understanding sexual health concerns in women after traumatic pelvic fracture.

INTRODUCTION: While there is a well-known association between pelvic fracture and sexual dysfunction, few studies discuss the treatment patterns and utilization of healthcare services following injury. Those that do exist pertain to men. How women experience sexual dysfunction after traumatic injury and how they navigate the healthcare system is currently not well documented in the literature. This study aims to understand the prevalence and spectrum of sexual health issues in women after pelvic fracture, and to highlight barriers associated with accessing care for these concerns. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Women admitted and treated for traumatic pelvic fractures at a single Level 1 trauma center over a 6-year period were invited to participate in an electronic cross-sectional survey. Sexual health issues and care-seeking behaviors around sexual health were assessed. Inverse probability weighting based on available common data points in the registry was utilized to adjust for nonresponse bias. All data presented are of weighted data unless otherwise specified. RESULTS: Of the 780 potential subjects, 98 women responded to the survey (12.6% crude response rate). With weighting, 71% of responders were white and 42% had private insurance, with a mean age at the time of injury of 42.2 years (SD 22.4) and median time since the injury of 45 months (interquartile range: 30.0, 57.4). 49.5% stated that sexual function was important to very important to their quality of life, with an additional 25.3% reporting it was moderately important. Of responders, 59.0% (95% confidence interval: 47.1%-71.0%) reported de novo postinjury sexual dysfunction. Specific complaints included dyspareunia (37.1%), difficulty with sexual satisfaction (34.4%), difficulty with sexual desire (31.3%), difficulty with orgasm (26.0%), and genital pain (17.8%). Of those with postinjury sexual dysfunction, 30.4% of women reported spontaneous resolution without treatment. An additional 15.4% indicated that they have continued concerns and desire treatment. Only 11.6% of women stated they had received treatment, all patients with access to insurance. Of those with postinjury sexual dysfunction, 60.8% had sexual health discussions with providers, 83.3% of which were patient-initiated. Common reasons why patients with sexual dysfunction did not raise the topic of sexual health with providers included embarrassment/fear (23.6%), assuming the issue would resolve with time (23.5%), sexual health not being a health priority (22.4%), and lack of information about the condition or available treatments (19.9%). CONCLUSION: Sexual dysfunction is common in women after traumatic pelvic fracture, with patients experiencing dysfunction in multiple domains. Concerns are inadequately addressed in the healthcare setting due to several modifiable barriers at both the patient and provider levels. Standardization in the postinjury recovery period is needed to better address patients' sexual health concerns.