Physician awareness of patients' preferred level of involvement in decision-making at the initial urogynecology visit: a randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown up to a 40% discordance between patients' preferred roles in decision-making before and their perceived roles after their visit. This can negatively affect patients' experiences; interventions to minimize this discordance may significantly improve patient satisfaction. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to determine whether physicians' awareness of patients' preferred involvement in decision-making before their initial urogynecology visit affects patients' perceived level of involvement after their visit. STUDY DESIGN: This randomized controlled trial enrolled adult English-speaking women presenting for their initial visit at an academic urogynecology clinic from June 2022 to September 2022. Before the visit, participants completed the Control Preference Scale to determine the patient's preferred level of decision-making: active, collaborative, or passive. The participants were randomized to either the physician team being aware of their decision-making preference before the visit or usual care. The participants were blinded. After the visit, participants again completed a Control Preference Scale and the Patient Global Impression of Improvement, CollaboRATE, patient satisfaction, and health literacy questionnaires. Fisher exact, logistic regression, and generalized estimating equations were used. Based on a 21% difference in preferred and perceived discordance, we calculated the sample size to be 50 patients in each arm to achieve 80% power. RESULTS: Women (n=100) with a mean age of 52.9 years (standard deviation=15.8) participated in the study. Most participants identified as White (73%) and non-Hispanic (70%). Before the visit, most women preferred an active role (61%) and few preferred a passive role (7%). There was no significant difference between the 2 cohorts in the discordance between their pre- and post-Control Preference Scale responses (27% vs 37%; P=.39) or whether their symptoms were much better or very much better following the visit (18% vs 37%; P=.06). However, when asked whether they were completely satisfied with the visit, those assigned to the physician awareness cohort reported higher satisfaction than those in the treatment as usual cohort (100% vs 90%; P=.03). CONCLUSION: Although there was no significant decrease in discordance between the patient's desired and perceived level of decision-making following physician awareness, it had a significant effect on patient satisfaction. All patients whose physicians were aware of their preferences reported complete satisfaction with their visit. Although patient-centered care does not always entail meeting all of the patients' expectations, the mere understanding of their preferences in decision-making can lead to complete patient satisfaction.

How Involved Do Patients Want to Be in the Medical Decision-Making at the Initial Urogynecology Clinic Visit?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare patients' preferred role in medical decision-making before the initial urogynecology visit to their perceived role after the visit. METHODS: This prospective cohort study enrolled women presenting for their initial urogynecology visit. Before and after the visit, patients completed the Control Preference Scale (CPS), which categorizes the role that patients want to have in medical decision-making: active, collaborative, or passive. Patients also completed the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory, CollaboRATE, Patient Global Impression of Improvement, patient satisfaction, and Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults questionnaires. Univariable and multivariable generalized estimating equations were used. RESULTS: Women (n = 100) with a mean age of 59.1 years (SD = 15.5) participated in the study. Based on CPS before the visit, 50% of the women preferred active involvement, whereas 45% preferred collaborative and 5% preferred passive involvement. After the visit, these rates change to 40%, 48%, and 11%, respectively. On univariable analysis, women were 1.56 times more likely to report a collaborative or passive CPS response after the visit (P = 0.02). This remained true on multivariable analysis (odds ratio, 1.57; P = 0.04). Patients' CPS responses were not associated with their responses on CollaboRATE, Patient Global Impression of Improvement, patient satisfaction, or Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults. Eighty-eight percent of women reported a fully collaborative visit based on CollaboRATE, and 87% reported being "completely satisfied" with the visit. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a change in women's reported involvement in decision-making after their first urogynecology visit compared with their preferences before the visit, most women perceived collaboration during their visit and were completely satisfied.

Improvements in Self-Reported Depression Following Treatment of Fecal Incontinence with Sacral Neuromodulation.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate changes in self-reported depression after treatment of fecal incontinence (FI) with sacral neuromodulation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a subanalysis of data collected from March 2016 to October 2017 for an Institutional Review Board-approved retrospective cohort study. Demographic information, medical history, psychiatric comorbidities, and the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System item bank t-scores were extracted from the electronic medical record. The differences in t-scores were compared with a two-sided paired t-test, and a p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Of the cohort (n = 24), most were Caucasian (88%), female (92%), nonsmokers (92%). Median age was 63.5 years (interquartile range 57.5-71.0 years) and median body mass index was 27.7 kg/m2 (range 18.3-42.9 kg/m2 ). A significant decrease in mean depression t-scores occurred after implantation of a sacral neuromodulation device, -4.5 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -8.7, -0.2, p = 0.04). Self-reported pain interference (p = 0.37) and physical function (p = 0.47) scores were similar following implantation. Individuals with comorbid anxiety reported the greatest improvement in depression (-6.5, 95% CI: -11.8, -1.1, p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of FI with sacral neuromodulation was associated with improvement in self-reported depression with the greatest improvement in those with anxiety. Further prospective research is needed to corroborate these findings.

Sleep disturbance changes in women after treatment of refractory overactive bladder with sacral neuromodulation.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to evaluate changes in sleep disturbance following treatment of overactive bladder with sacral neuromodulation. Materials and Methods: This is a sub-analysis of data collected from an institutional review board approved retrospective cohort study evaluating women with Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-Sleep Disturbance (PROMIS-SD) before and after sacral neuromodulation for overactive bladder between March 2016 and October 2017. Data collected included demographics, clinical characteristics, and additional PROMIS item banks. Within-group analysis was performed with paired t-tests. Groups based up on PROMIS-SD improvement (change <0) were then compared using Fisher's exact test, t-test, or Mann-Whitney U-test as appropriate. Results: Those with improved sleep disturbance (n=7) noted a significant mean improvement of -3.99 (95% confidence interval, -6.32, -1.65; p<0.01). Both pre- and post-procedure PROMIS-Physical Function (38.86±2.35 vs. 34.13±5.58, p=0.07 and 37.14±5.10 vs. 35.44±4.74, p=0.53), Pain Interference (60.04±6.34 vs. 65.50±6.20, p=0.13 and 57.89±5.08 vs. 64.73±7.35, p=0.07), Depression (44.2±4.73 vs. 61.29±9.53, p=0.17 and 54.29±6.25 vs. 57.96±11.42, p=0.47) t-scores were similar between sleep response groups. Conclusions: Those with improved sleep disturbance reported significant changes after sacral neuromodulation for overactive bladder. However, no significant differences were identified between those with and without improvement. Further investigation of changes in sleep disturbance and factors affecting change are needed within this population.

Evaluation of Sacral Nerve Stimulation Device Revision and Explantation in a Single Center, Multidisciplinary Study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors associated with revision or removal of a sacral nerve stimulation device for treatment of lower urinary tract dysfunction or fecal incontinence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a single-center multidisciplinary retrospective cohort study conducted at a university hospital from January 2013 through October 2017. Subjects who underwent successful sacral neuromodulation were identified via procedural codes. Clinical and demographic data regarding device revision or removal were extracted from the medical record. When testing differences between groups, t-test or Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare continuous variables. Categorical variables were compared by Chi-square test. Risk factors with a p value <0.2 in univariate investigation were included in the multivariate analysis. Logistic regression modeling was used to compare associations between risk factors and re-operation rates. RESULTS: Of the 219 subjects analyzed, 35 (16%) had revision or explantation of the sacral nerve stimulation device. Median time to re-operation was 164 days (interquartile range [IQR]: 29, 525). Subjects with device revised or explanted were younger, with a median age of 50 years vs. 62 years (p < 0.01) for those who did not undergo explantation. Patient demographics and co-morbidities were otherwise similar. Multivariate analysis identified age under 55 years (odds ratio [OR]: 2.51; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.18-5.33) as a significant risk factor. Our regression model showed that neither preimplantation diagnosis of chronic pain (OR: 0.60; 95% CI: 0.28-1.27) nor the specialty of the surgeon (OR 1.04; 95% CI 0.66-1.62) was associated with stimulation device revision or explantation. CONCLUSIONS: This study found a 16% incidence of revision or explantation. Age under 55 years was identified as a significant risk factor. Our analysis did not find further demographic characteristics, co-morbid disorders, or behavioral diagnoses that were associated with revision or removal. Identification of risk factors may aid in patient selection for sacral nerve stimulation device implantation.