Surgical Versus Nonsurgical Treatment of Women With Pelvic Floor Dysfunction: Patient Centered Goals at 1 Year

PurposeIn women with pelvic floor dysfunction we assessed the degree to which treatment (surgical vs nonsurgical) was associated with achievement of patient centered goals, satisfaction with care and quality of life.Materials and MethodsIn this prospective cohort study between September 2003 and December 2004 we recruited women during their first referral visit for pelvic floor dysfunction treatment at our outpatient Urogynecology Clinic. At the first visit women enumerated up to 5 personal treatment goals, and anchored each goal by anticipating best and worst possible outcomes. At 12-month followup women were asked to indicate the level of goal attainment (−2 worst outcome, +2 best outcome). At baseline and followup women completed short forms of the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire and Urogenital Distress Inventory (range 0 to 100, high scores indicating greater impact or distress). Patients indicated the level of treatment satisfaction on a 4-level ordinal scale.ResultsOf the 127 study participants with complete data 46 (36.2%) were treated surgically and 81 (63.8%) were treated nonsurgically. There were no major demographic differences between the 2 groups in terms of age, race, weight, prior pelvic floor dysfunction surgery and vaginal parity. The surgical group was more likely to have received a baseline diagnosis of pelvic organ prolapse (80% vs 60%, p = 0.0259) and be postmenopausal (89% vs 72%, p = 0.0261). There were no significant differences in the distribution of goal type (symptom relief, activity, self-image, general health) by treatment status (p = 0.1074). Using logistic regression to adjust for age and baseline diagnosis, surgically treated patients at 1 year were significantly more likely to report complete primary goal attainment (OR 4.42, p = 0.0154) and complete treatment satisfaction (OR 6.12, p = 0.0109). For all participants 1-year Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 and Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 scores were significantly correlated with primary goal attainment scores.ConclusionsIn this nonrandomized, prospective analysis surgically treated patients with pelvic floor dysfunction had higher 1-year self-described complete goal attainment and satisfaction scores compared with patients treated nonsurgically. Goal attainment scores correlated with disease specific quality of life. Patient centered outcomes should be incorporated in multicenter prospective research trials for pelvic floor disorders and in clinical practice to inform treatment plans.