A generic health-related quality of life instrument, the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36, in women with urinary incontinence

The paper reviews the literature concerning health-related quality of life in women with urinary incontinence by using the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36). The aim of this study was to determine the role of the SF-36 in the evaluation of urinary incontinence. Although some information regarding factors associated with health-related quality of life in women with urinary incontinence is currently available, this issue remains controversial since these factors had not been consistently found to have effects on quality of life. The scales of the SF-36 questionnaire have poor content validity for urinary incontinence, multidimensionality with difficulty of interpretation of any changes, and limited sensitivity to small changes in symptoms. The problem with using the SF-36 is that results are often insensitive to the specific condition measured and therefore fail to address many of the issues relevant to the disease. As a result, disease-specific instruments may be more beneficial in evaluating the impact of a specific urinary incontinence on quality of life and are more sensitive than their generic counterparts in detecting changes as a result of treatment. Since generic quality of life may be more susceptible to other factors such as co-morbid diseases than disease severity and reflect a wider aspect of daily life, these factors should also be evaluated in future studies.