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Acute urinary retention: what is the impact on patients’ quality of life?
Author(s) -
Thomas Kay,
Oades Grenville,
TaylorHay Cathy,
Kirby Roger S.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
bju international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 148
eISSN - 1464-410X
pISSN - 1464-4096
DOI - 10.1111/j.1464-410x.2004.05254.x
Subject(s) - medicine , urinary retention , attendance , quality of life (healthcare) , physical therapy , surgery , nursing , economics , economic growth
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the impact of admission for acute urinary retention (AUR) on patients’ health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) compared with that on admission for elective surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and emergency admission for renal colic (RC). PATIENTS AND METHODS Over a 2‐year period, three groups of men were recruited from one institution: group 1, men aged >50 years presenting to the accident and emergency (A&E) department with AUR; group 2, for comparison, men aged >50 years admitted for elective surgery for BPH; and group 3, men aged >40 years presenting to A&E with RC. A self‐completed HRQoL questionnaire was administered at five visits (72 h from admission, and 1, 2, 3 and 6 months afterward) over a 6‐month follow‐up. RESULTS Group 1 reported mean pain scores on admission of 7.7, compared with 5.6 for group 2 and 8.3 for group 3. Patients in group 1 had the most investigations and recurrent attendance to A&E throughout the study, compared with almost none for the other two groups. There was a substantial economic burden for group 1; 15% had extra help at home at a mean cost of £403 for the duration of the study. For the other domains assessed (e.g. emotions, mental state, general health) groups 1 and 2 were similar. CONCLUSIONS An episode of AUR has a measurable impact on patients’ HRQoL, which often occurs in the community and therefore may not be appreciated by the urology team providing their care. Further work is therefore required to improve the ‘patient journey’ for those with AUR, and to prevent patients developing AUR in the future.