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Marissa Dean, Victor W Sung Department of Neurology, Division of Movement Disorders, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA Abstract: Deutetrabenazine was recently approved for the treatment of chorea in Huntington’s disease (HD) and is the first deuterated medication that has been US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved for therapeutic use. In this article, we review deutetrabenazine’s drug design, pharmacokinetics, drug interactions, efficacy, adverse events, comparison with tetrabenazine, dosage, and administration. Deutetrabenazine is a deuterated form of tetrabenazine and is a vesicular monoamine transporter 2 (VMAT2) inhibitor. The substitution of deuterium for hydrogen at key positions in the tetrabenazine molecule allows a longer drug half-life and less frequent daily dosing. Deutetrabenazine is administered twice daily up to a maximum daily dose of 48 mg, which corresponds to a similar daily dose of 100 mg of tetrabenazine. In a Phase III clinical trial (First-HD), there was a statistically significant improvement of chorea in HD subjects, as well as improvements in global impression of change as assessed by both patients and clinicians. This improvement was seen without significant adverse effects as the overall tolerability profile of deutetrabenazine was similar to placebo. Somnolence was the most commonly reported symptom in the deutetrabenazine group. In a study where subjects converted from tetrabenazine to deutetrabenazine in an open-label fashion (ARC-HD) and indirect comparison studies between tetrabenazine and deutetrabenazine, there is a suggestion that while efficacy for chorea is similar, the data may slightly favor tetrabenazine, but adverse effects and tolerability strongly favor deutetrabenazine. These data have not been replicated in true head-to-head studies. Current evidence supports that deutetrabenazine is an effective therapeutic treatment option for chorea in HD and may provide a more favorable adverse effect profile than tetrabenazine. However, more data are needed, particularly in the form of head-to-head studies between deutetrabenazine and other treatment options as well as longer term clinical experience with deutetrabenazine. Keywords: deutetrabenazine, tetrabenazine, Huntington’s disease, chorea

Objective: To estimate the effect of porcine subintestinal submucosal graft augmentation on improving anatomic and subjective rectocele repair outcomes compared with native tissue repair.Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial at two sites, including women with at least stage 2 symptomatic rectocele. Anatomic and subjective outcomes (vaginal bulge and defecatory) were collected 12 months postoperatively, including blinded Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification (POP-Q) examinations. Anatomic failure was defined as points Ap or Bp -1 or greater on POP-Q. Subjective failure was defined as no improvement or worsening of symptoms. We estimated number needed to treat and adjusted odds ratios (ORs). Assuming graft use is associated with 93% anatomic success, 63 women per group would be needed to detect a 20% difference at α=.05 and β=.20.Results: One hundred sixty women were randomized; 137 had 12-month anatomic data (67 graft; 70 control). There was no difference in anatomic failure (12% compared with 9%, P=.5), vaginal bulge symptom failure (3% compared with 7%, P=.4, number needed to treat=26) or defecatory symptom failure (44% compared with 45%, P=.9, number needed to treat=91) for graft compared with control, respectively. Both groups reported improvement in vaginal bulge and defecatory symptoms (P<.05 for all). On multiple logistic regression, graft use was not associated with a decreased odds of anatomic failure (adjusted OR 1.36, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.44-4.25), vaginal bulge symptoms (adjusted OR 0.46, 95% CI 0.08-2.68), or defecatory symptoms (adjusted OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.48-2.03).Conclusion: Although rectocele repair by either approach is associated with improved symptoms, subintestinal submucosal graft augmentation was not superior to native tissue for anatomic or subjective outcomes at 12 months.Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, www.clinicaltrials.gov, NCT00321867. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of a Mersilene mesh suburethral sling for occult stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and intrinsic sphincter deficiency (ISD) in women with severe vaginal prolapse of the anterior compartment to the posterior/apical compartment. STUDY DESIGN: This was a retrospective study that compared women with stage or grade III/IV prolapse of the anterior compartment (group 1) with the posterior/apical compartment (group 2); both groups demonstrated occult SUI (leakage only with prolapse reduced) and ISD on urodynamics, and underwent concurrent pelvic reconstructive surgery. The sling was defined as efficacious if SUI was prevented in 85% of women and if obstructive symptoms (de novo or worsening urge incontinence, or urinary retention greater than 2 weeks) occurred in less than 10% of women. RESULTS: There were 39 women in group 1 and 25 women in group 2. There were no differences between women in group 1 or group 2 in preoperative demographics (except parity) or urodynamic findings. SUI cure rates were lower for group 1 than group 2, but this difference was not significant (87% vs 100%, P = .15). Rates of de novo or worsening urge incontinence (8% vs 4%, P = 1.00) and urinary retention (none occurred) were similar between groups. CONCLUSION: In women with severe vaginal prolapse, slings effectively treat occult SUI and ISD, whether associated with anterior or posterior/apical prolapse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The midurethral sling is an effective treatment for stress urinary incontinence. Mesh exposure is a known complication of this procedure, with an associated rate of approximately 4%. Other than sling excision, there is minimal information on other options that may help to preserve an effective sling when an exposure has occurred.Case: A patient presented with a mesh exposure 9 weeks after a retropubic midurethral sling. Conservative treatment with vaginal estrogen failed, as did primary reclosure in the operating room. She was then successfully treated with a full-thickness autologous vaginal epithelium graft.Conclusion: We report an alternative surgical option to mesh excision, which may help preserve an otherwise effective midurethral sling complicated by mesh exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Importance: Patients with pelvic organ prolapse are often tasked with deciding between treatments. Decisional conflict is a measure of factors that go into effective decision making., Objective: This study aimed to compare prolapse treatment-related decisional conflict reported by underrepresented patients (URPs) to non-URPs after new patient visits., Study Design: A multicenter cohort study of new patients counseled regarding management of prolapse from July 2021 to December 2022 was performed. Participants completed the Decisional Conflict Scale (DCS), a validated measure of modifiable factors in decision making. Higher scores indicate feeling less comfortable with decisions. Race and ethnicity were viewed as social constructs. A URP was defined as self-identification with a non-White race or Hispanic ethnicity. Alpha was set at 0.05, power 80%, to detect an effect size of 0.4 between mean DCS scores., Results: A total of 207 participants (103 URPs, 49.8%), with a mean age of 63.4 ± 11.9 years and mean body mass index of 29.7 ± 6.9 (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared), completed the study. Much of the URP group self-identified as Hispanic (50/103, 48.5%) and/or Black (39/103, 37.9%), and 30 of 103 (29.1%) had an interpreter at their visit. A greater proportion of non-URPs had a prior hysterectomy (16.1% difference; P = 0.017) and prolapse surgery (18/204, 10.5% difference; P = 0.020). A greater proportion of URPs had hypertension (23.6% difference; P = <0.001). There were no differences in the other pelvic floor disorders, prolapse stage, or treatments selected (all P > 0.05). The mean DCS scores were not different between groups (URP, 12.9 ± 12.3 vs non-URP, 11.6 ± 14.9; P = 0.31). Household income, education, and insurance were not associated with DCS scores (all P > 0.05)., Conclusions: Decisional Conflict Scale scores were not significantly different between groups. Possible differences between subgroups warrant further investigation., (Copyright © 2024 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved.)

Background: As the muscular and connective tissue components of the vagina are estrogen responsive, clinicians may recommend vaginal estrogen to optimize tissues preoperatively and as a possible means to reduce prolapse recurrence, but long-term effects of perioperative intravaginal estrogen on surgical prolapse management are uncertain., Objective: This study aimed to compare the efficacy of perioperative vaginal estrogen vs placebo cream in reducing composite surgical treatment failure 36 months after native tissue transvaginal prolapse repair., Study Design: This was an extended follow-up of a randomized superiority trial conducted at 3 tertiary US sites. Postmenopausal patients with bothersome anterior or apical vaginal prolapse were randomized 1:1 to 1-g conjugated estrogen cream (0.625 mg/g) or placebo, inserted vaginally twice weekly for ≥5 weeks preoperatively and continued twice weekly for 12 months postoperatively. All participants underwent vaginal hysterectomy (if the uterus was present) and standardized uterosacral or sacrospinous ligament suspension at the surgeon's discretion. The primary report's outcome was time to failure by 12 months postoperatively, defined by a composite outcome of objective prolapse of the anterior or posterior walls beyond the hymen or the vaginal apex descending below one-third the total vaginal length, subjective bulge symptoms, and/or retreatment. After 12 months, participants could choose to use-or not use-vaginal estrogen for atrophy symptom bother. The secondary outcomes included Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification points, subjective prolapse symptom severity using the Patient Global Impression of Severity and the Patient Global Impression of Improvement, and prolapse-specific subscales of the 20-Item Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory and the Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire-Short Form 7. Data were analyzed as intent to treat and "per protocol" (ie, ≥50% of expected cream use per medication diary)., Results: Of 206 postmenopausal patients, 199 were randomized, and 186 underwent surgery. Moreover, 164 postmenopausal patients (88.2%) provided 36-month data. The mean age was 65.0 years (standard deviation, 6.7). The characteristics were similar at baseline between the groups. Composite surgical failure rates were not significantly different between the estrogen group and the placebo group through 36 months, with model-estimated failure rates of 32.6% (95% confidence interval, 21.6%-42.0%) and 26.8% (95% confidence interval, 15.8%-36.3%), respectively (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.90-2.66; P=.11). The results were similar for the per-protocol analysis. Objective failures were more common than subjective failures, combined objective and subjective failures, or retreatment. Using the Patient Global Impression of Improvement, 75 of 80 estrogen participants (94%) and 72 of 76 placebo participants (95%) providing 36-month data reported that they were much or very much better 36 months after surgery (P>.99). These data included reports from 51 of 55 "surgical failures." Pelvic Organ Prolapse Quantification measurements, Patient Global Impression of Severity scores, and prolapse subscale scores of the 20-Item Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory and Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire-Short Form 7 all significantly improved for both the estrogen and placebo groups from baseline to 36 months postoperatively without differences between the groups. Of the 160 participants providing data on vaginal estrogen usage at 36 months postoperatively, 40 of 82 participants (49%) originally assigned to the estrogen group were using prescribed vaginal estrogen, and 47 of 78 participants (60%) assigned to the placebo group were using vaginal estrogen (P=.15)., Conclusion: Adjunctive perioperative vaginal estrogen applied ≥5 weeks preoperatively and 12 months postoperatively did not improve surgical success rates 36 months after uterosacral or sacrospinous ligament suspension prolapse repair. Patient perception of improvement remained very high at 36 months., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Many clinical trials use systematic methodology to monitor adverse events and determine grade (severity), expectedness, and relatedness to treatments as determined by clinicians. However, patient perspectives are often not included in this process., Objective: This study aimed to compare clinician vs patient grading of adverse event severity in a urogynecologic surgical trial. Secondary objectives were to estimate the association of patient grading of adverse events with decision-making and quality of life outcomes and to determine if patient perspective changes over time., Study Design: This was a planned supplementary study (Patient Perspectives in Adverse Event Reporting [PPAR]) to a randomized trial comparing 3 surgical approaches to vaginal apical prolapse. In the parent trial, adverse events experienced by patients were collected per a standardized protocol every 6 months during which clinicians graded adverse event severity (mild, moderate, severe/life-threatening). In this substudy, we obtained additional longitudinal patient perspectives for 19 predetermined "PPAR adverse events." Patients provided their own severity grading (mild, moderate, severe/very severe/life-threatening) at initial assessment and at 12 and 36 months postoperatively. Clinicians and patients were masked to each other's reporting. The primary outcome was the interrater agreement (kappa statistic) for adverse event severity between the initial clinician and patient assessment, combining patient grades of mild and moderate. The association between adverse event severity and the Decision Regret Scale, Satisfaction with Decision Scale, the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey, and Patient Global Impression of Improvement scores was assessed using the Spearman correlation coefficient (ρ) for continuous scales, the Mantel-Haenszel chi-square test for Patient Global Impression of Improvement, and t tests or chi-square tests comparing the assessments of patients who rated their adverse events or symptoms as severe with those who gave other ratings. To describe patient perspective changes over time, the intraobserver agreement was estimated for adverse event severity grade over time using weighted kappa coefficients., Results: Of the 360 randomly assigned patients, 219 (61%) experienced a total of 527 PPAR adverse events (91% moderate and 9% severe/life-threatening by clinician grading). Mean patient age was 67 years; 87% were White and 12% Hispanic. Among the patients reporting any PPAR event, the most common were urinary tract infection (61%), de novo urgency urinary incontinence (35%), stress urinary incontinence (22%), and fecal incontinence (13%). Overall agreement between clinician and participant grading of severity was poor (kappa=0.24 [95% confidence interval, 0.14-0.34]). Of the 414 adverse events that clinicians graded as moderate, patients graded 120 (29%) as mild and 80 (19%) as severe. Of the 39 adverse events graded as severe by clinicians, patients graded 15 (38%) as mild or moderate. Initial patient grading of the most severe reported adverse event was mildly correlated with worse Decision Regret Scale (ρ=0.2; P=.01), 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey (ρ=-0.24; P<.01), and Patient Global Impression of Improvement (P<.01) scores. There was no association between adverse event severity and Satisfaction with Decision Scale score. Patients with an initial grading of "severe" had more regret, lower quality of life, and poorer global impressions of health than those whose worst severity grade was mild (P<.05). Agreement between the patients' initial severity ratings and their ratings at 12 months (kappa=0.48 [95% confidence interval, 0.39-0.58]) and 36 months (kappa=0.45 [95% confidence interval, 0.37-0.53]) was fair., Conclusion: Clinician and patient perceptions of adverse event severity are discordant. Worse severity from the patient perspective was associated with patient-centered outcomes. Including the patient perspective provides additional information for evaluating surgical procedures., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Importance: Mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) is common and can be challenging to manage., Objectives: We present the protocol design and rationale of a trial comparing the efficacy of 2 procedures for the treatment of women with MUI refractory to oral treatment. The Midurethral sling versus Botulinum toxin A ( MUSA) trial compares the efficacy of intradetrusor injection of 100 U of onabotulinimtoxinA (an office-based procedure directed at the urgency component) versus midurethral sling (MUS) placement (a surgical procedure directed at the stress component)., Study Design: The MUSA is a multicenter, randomized trial of women with MUI electing to undergo procedural treatment for MUI at 7 clinical centers in the NICHD Pelvic Floor Disorders Network. Participants are randomized to either onabotulinumtoxinA 100 U or MUS. OnabotulinimtoxinA recipients may receive an additional injection between 3 and 6 months. Participants may receive additional treatment (including crossover to the alternative study intervention) between 6 and 12 months. The primary outcome is change from baseline in Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI) at 6 months. Secondary outcomes include change in UDI at 3 and 12 months, irritative and stress subscores of the UDI, urinary incontinence episodes, predictors of poor treatment response, quality of life and global impression outcomes, adverse events, use of additional treatments, and cost effectiveness., Results: Recruitment and randomization of 150 participants is complete and participants are currently in the follow-up phase., Conclusions: This trial will provide information to guide care for women with MUI refractory to oral treatment who seek surgical treatment with either onabotulinumtoxinA or MUS., Competing Interests: H.E.R. received research funding (SUI, FI) from Renovia, research funding (FI) from EBT, royalties from UpToDate, research funding from the NIA, research funding from the NIDDK, research funding from the NICHD, travel reimbursement related to editor duties from Obstet Gynecol and IUJ, is part of the board of Worldwide Fistula Fund; and is a CME speaker of the DSMB Bluewind, Symposia Medicus. C.J.C. received research funding (neurogenic bladder) from DARPA and research funding (SUI) from Cook Myosite. S.A.M. received PCORI research support (UUI/OAB), UpToDate. D.D.R. received research support (POP) from Pfizer and research funding from ABOG and AAOGF. C.L.A. received Bluewind research support (POP, UUI). The other authors have declared they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved.)

Background: Urinary microbiome (urobiome) studies have previously reported on specific taxa and community differences in women with mixed urinary incontinence compared with controls. Therefore, a hypothesis was made that higher urinary and vaginal microbiome diversity would be associated with increased urinary incontinence severity., Objective: This study aimed to test whether specific urinary or vaginal microbiome community types are associated with urinary incontinence severity in a population of women with mixed urinary incontinence., Study Design: This planned secondary, cross-sectional analysis evaluated associations between the urinary and vaginal microbiomes and urinary incontinence severity in a subset of Effects of Surgical Treatment Enhanced With Exercise for Mixed Urinary Incontinence trial participants with urinary incontinence. Incontinence severity was measured using bladder diaries and Urinary Distress Inventory questionnaires collected at baseline. Catheterized urine samples and vaginal swabs were concurrently collected before treatment at baseline to assess the urinary and vaginal microbiomes. Of note, 16S rRNA V4 to V6 variable regions were sequenced, characterizing bacterial taxa to the genus level using the DADA2 pipeline and SILVA database. Using Dirichlet multinomial mixtures methods, samples were clustered into community types based on core taxa. Associations between community types and severity measures (Urinary Distress Inventory total scores, Urinary Distress Inventory subscale scores, and the number of urinary incontinence episodes [total, urgency, and stress] from the bladder diary) were evaluated using linear regression models adjusted for age and body mass index. In addition, alpha diversity measures for richness (total taxa numbers) and evenness (proportional distribution of taxa abundance) were analyzed for associations with urinary incontinence episodes and community type., Results: Overall, 6 urinary microbiome community types were identified, characterized by varying levels of common genera (Lactobacillus, Gardnerella, Prevotella, Tepidimonas, Acidovorax, Escherichia, and others). The analysis of urinary incontinence severity in 126 participants with mixed urinary incontinence identified a Lactobacillus-dominated reference group with the highest abundance of Lactobacillus (mean relative abundance of 76%). A community characterized by fewer Lactobacilli (mean relative abundance of 19%) and greater alpha diversity was associated with higher total urinary incontinence episodes (2.67 daily leaks; 95% confidence interval, 0.76-4.59; P=.007) and urgency urinary incontinence episodes (1.75 daily leaks; 95% confidence interval, 0.24-3.27; P=.02) than the reference group. No significant association was observed between community type and stress urinary incontinence episodes or Urogenital Distress Inventory total or subscores. The composition of vaginal community types and urinary community types were similar but composed of slightly different bacterial taxa. Vaginal community types were not associated with urinary incontinence severity, as measured by bladder diary or Urogenital Distress Inventory total and subscale scores. Alpha diversity indicated that greater sample richness was associated with more incontinence episodes (observed genera P=.01) in urine. Measures of evenness (Shannon and Pielou) were not associated with incontinence severity in the urinary or vaginal microbiomes., Conclusion: In the urobiome of women with mixed urinary incontinence, a community type with fewer Lactobacilli and more diverse bacteria was associated with more severe urinary incontinence episodes (total and urgency) compared with a community type with high predominance of a single genus, Lactobacillus. Whether mixed urinary incontinence severity is due to lesser predominance of Lactobacillus, greater presence of other non-Lactobacillus genera, or the complement of bacteria consisting of urobiome community types remains to be determined., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: To identify clinical and demographic characteristics associated with prolapse recurrence by 12 months after native tissue transvaginal repair., Methods: This was a planned secondary analysis of a randomized trial including postmenopausal participants with stage 2 or greater apical or anterior vaginal prolapse scheduled for surgical repair at three U.S. sites. Participants underwent vaginal hysterectomy (if uterus was present) and standardized uterosacral or sacrospinous ligament suspension at the surgeon's discretion. The intervention was perioperative (5 weeks or more preoperatively and 12 months postoperatively) vaginal estrogen compared with placebo cream. The primary outcome was time to failure by 12 months after surgery, defined by objective prolapse of the anterior or posterior walls beyond the hymen or the apex descending more than one-third of the vaginal length, symptomatic vaginal bulge, or retreatment. For this analysis, participants were grouped according to failure compared with success, and multiple factors were compared, including age, time since menopause, race and ethnicity, parity, body mass index (BMI), baseline genital hiatus measurement, prolapse stage and point of maximal prolapse, surgery type (uterosacral or sacrospinous ligament suspension), and concomitant procedures. Factors were assessed for association with the hazard of surgical failure using Cox proportional hazards models, adjusted for site and treatment group. Factors with P <.50 from this analysis were considered for inclusion in the final multivariable model; site and treatment group were kept in this model., Results: One hundred eighty-six participants underwent surgery; 183 provided complete data. There were 30 failures (16.4%) and 153 successes (83.4%) at 12 months. On bivariate analysis, failure was associated with decreasing age, shorter duration since menopause, Latina ethnicity, and greater baseline genital hiatus. In the final multivariable model, which included age, BMI, and point of maximal prolapse, only age remained significantly associated with surgical failure (adjusted hazard ratio [per year] 0.92, 95% CI, 0.86-0.98, P =.016)., Conclusion: Among postmenopausal women, younger age was associated with increased frequency of prolapse recurrence by 12 months after native tissue repair., Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov , NCT02431897., Competing Interests: Financial Disclosure The authors did not report any potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Menopause and the decline in systemic estrogen are associated with the development of pelvic floor disorders, such as prolapse, urinary incontinence, overactive bladder, and vulvovaginal atrophy symptoms. Past evidence suggests that postmenopausal women with symptomatic prolapse gain benefit from the preoperative application of intravaginal estrogen, but it is unknown whether they would experience improvement in other pelvic floor symptoms when treated with intravaginal estrogen., Objective: This study aimed to determine the effects of intravaginal estrogen (compared with placebo) on stress and urgency urinary incontinence, urinary frequency, sexual function and dyspareunia, and vaginal atrophy symptoms and signs in postmenopausal women with symptomatic prolapse., Study Design: This was a planned ancillary analysis of a randomized, double-blind trial, "Investigation to Minimize Prolapse Recurrence Of the Vagina using Estrogen," which included participants with ≥stage 2 apical and/or anterior prolapse scheduled for transvaginal native tissue apical repair at 3 US sites. The intervention was 1 g conjugated estrogen intravaginal cream (0.625 mg/g) or identical placebo (1:1), inserted nightly for 2 weeks and then twice weekly for ≥5 weeks total before surgery and continued twice weekly for 1 year postoperatively. For this analysis, question responses were compared from participants' baseline and preoperative visits: lower urinary tract symptoms (Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 Questionnaire); sexual health questions, including dyspareunia (Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Incontinence Sexual Function Questionnaire-IUGA-Revised); and atrophy-related symptoms (dryness, soreness, dyspareunia, discharge, and itching; each scored 1-4, 4 being quite a bit bothersome). Masked examiners assessed vaginal color, dryness, and petechiae (each scored 1-3, total range 3-9, with 9 being the most estrogenized appearing). Data were analyzed by intent to treat and "per protocol" (ie, those adherent with ≥50% of expected intravaginal cream use, per objective tube before and after weights)., Results: Of 199 participants randomized (mean age of 65 years) and contributing baseline data, 191 had preoperative data. The characteristics were similar between groups. Total Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 Questionnaire scores showed minimal change during this median time of 7 weeks between baseline and preoperative visits, but for those with at least moderately bothersome baseline stress urinary incontinence (32 in the estrogen group and 21 in the placebo group), 16 (50%) in the estrogen group and 9 (43%) in the placebo group showed improvement (P=.78). In addition, 43% of participants in the estrogen group and 31% of participants in the placebo group showed improvement in urgency urinary incontinence (P=.41), and 41% of participants in the estrogen group and 26% of participants in the placebo group showed improvement in urinary frequency (P=.18). There was minimal change in the Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Incontinence Sexual Function Questionnaire-IUGA-Revised scores among sexually active women; dyspareunia rates did not differ between intravaginal estrogen and placebo at the preoperative assessment: 42% and 48%, respectively (P=.49). The maximum score for most bothersome atrophy symptom (among those with baseline symptoms and adherent to study cream) improved slightly more with intravaginal estrogen (adjusted mean difference, -0.33 points; 95% confidence interval, -0.98 to 0.31), but this was not statistically significant (P=.19). However, on examination, among adherent participants, objective signs of atrophy were more improved with intravaginal estrogen treatment (+1.54 vs +0.69; mean difference, 0.85; 95% confidence interval, 0.05-1.65; P=.01)., Conclusion: Despite objective changes in the vaginal epithelium consistent with increased estrogenization among drug-adherent participants, the results were inconclusive regarding whether 7 weeks of preoperative intravaginal estrogen cream in postmenopausal women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse was associated with improved urinary function, sexual function, dyspareunia symptoms, and other symptoms commonly attributed to atrophy. Additional study is needed., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Importance: Surgical repairs of apical/uterovaginal prolapse are commonly performed using native tissue pelvic ligaments as the point of attachment for the vaginal cuff after a hysterectomy. Clinicians may recommend vaginal estrogen in an effort to reduce prolapse recurrence, but the effects of intravaginal estrogen on surgical prolapse management are uncertain., Objective: To compare the efficacy of perioperative vaginal estrogen vs placebo cream on prolapse recurrence following native tissue surgical prolapse repair., Design, Setting, and Participants: This randomized superiority clinical trial was conducted at 3 tertiary US clinical sites (Texas, Alabama, Rhode Island). Postmenopausal women (N = 206) with bothersome anterior and apical vaginal prolapse interested in surgical repair were enrolled in urogynecology clinics between December 2016 and February 2020., Interventions: The intervention was 1 g of conjugated estrogen cream (0.625 mg/g) or placebo, inserted vaginally nightly for 2 weeks and then twice weekly to complete at least 5 weeks of application preoperatively; this continued twice weekly for 12 months postoperatively. Participants underwent a vaginal hysterectomy (if uterus present) and standardized apical fixation (either uterosacral or sacrospinous ligament fixation)., Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was time to failure of prolapse repair by 12 months after surgery defined by at least 1 of the following 3 outcomes: anatomical/objective prolapse of the anterior or posterior walls beyond the hymen or the apex descending more than one-third of the vaginal length, subjective vaginal bulge symptoms, or repeated prolapse treatment. Secondary outcomes included measures of urinary and sexual function, symptoms and signs of urogenital atrophy, and adverse events., Results: Of 206 postmenopausal women, 199 were randomized and 186 underwent surgery. The mean (SD) age of participants was 65 (6.7) years. The primary outcome was not significantly different for women receiving vaginal estrogen vs placebo through 12 months: 12-month failure incidence of 19% (n = 20) for vaginal estrogen vs 9% (n = 10) for placebo (adjusted hazard ratio, 1.97 [95% CI, 0.92-4.22]), with the anatomic recurrence component being most common, rather than vaginal bulge symptoms or prolapse repeated treatment. Masked surgeon assessment of vaginal tissue quality and estrogenization was significantly better in the vaginal estrogen group at the time of the operation. In the subset of participants with at least moderately bothersome vaginal atrophy symptoms at baseline (n = 109), the vaginal atrophy score for most bothersome symptom was significantly better at 12 months with vaginal estrogen., Conclusions and Relevance: Adjunctive perioperative vaginal estrogen application did not improve surgical success rates after native tissue transvaginal prolapse repair., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02431897.

Pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is defined as the descent of one or more of the anterior, posterior, or apical vagina. It is a common condition, with up to 50% of women having prolapse on examination in their lifetimes. This article provides an overview of the evaluation and discussion of nonoperative management of POP for the obstetrician-gynecologist (ob-gyn), with consideration of recommendations from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Urogynecologic Society, and the International Urogynecological Association. The initial evaluation of POP requires a history documenting whether the patient is experiencing symptoms and what they are, and discovery of which symptoms they believe are attributable to prolapse. Examination determines the vaginal compartment(s) and to what degree prolapse exists. In general, only patients who have symptomatic prolapse or medical indication should be offered treatment. Although surgical options exist, all patients who are symptomatic and desire treatment should be offered nonsurgical treatment first, including pelvic floor physical therapy or a pessary trial. Appropriateness, expectations, complications, and counseling points are reviewed. Educational opportunities between the patient and the ob-gyn include disentangling common beliefs that the bladder is dropping or that concomitant urinary or bowel symptoms are necessarily caused by prolapse. Improving patient education can lead to a better understanding of their condition and better alignment of treatment goals and expectations., Competing Interests: Financial Disclosure Peter Jeppson reports receiving payment from Ethicon. Annetta Madsen did not report any potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background and Purpose: Given the increased use of stereotactic radiosurgical thalamotomy and other ablative therapies for tremor, new biomarkers are needed to improve outcomes. Using resting-state fMRI and MR tractography, we hypothesized that a "connectome fingerprint" can predict tremor outcomes and potentially serve as a targeting biomarker for stereotactic radiosurgical thalamotomy., Materials and Methods: We evaluated 27 patients who underwent unilateral stereotactic radiosurgical thalamotomy for essential tremor or tremor-predominant Parkinson disease. Percentage postoperative improvement in the contralateral limb Fahn-Tolosa-Marin Clinical Tremor Rating Scale (TRS) was the primary end point. Connectome-style resting-state fMRI and MR tractography were performed before stereotactic radiosurgery. Using the final lesion volume as a seed, "connectivity fingerprints" representing ideal connectivity maps were generated as whole-brain R-maps using a voxelwise nonparametric Spearman correlation. A leave-one-out cross-validation was performed using the generated R-maps., Results: The mean improvement in the contralateral tremor score was 55.1% (SD, 38.9%) at a mean follow-up of 10.0 (SD, 5.0) months. Structural connectivity correlated with contralateral TRS improvement ( r = 0.52; P  = .006) and explained 27.0% of the variance in outcome. Functional connectivity correlated with contralateral TRS improvement ( r = 0.50; P  = .008) and explained 25.0% of the variance in outcome. Nodes most correlated with tremor improvement corresponded to areas of known network dysfunction in tremor, including the cerebello-thalamo-cortical pathway and the primary and extrastriate visual cortices., Conclusions: Stereotactic radiosurgical targets with a distinct connectivity profile predict improvement in tremor after treatment. Such connectomic fingerprints show promise for developing patient-specific biomarkers to guide therapy with stereotactic radiosurgical thalamotomy., (© 2023 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.)

Importance: Overactive bladder (OAB) is prevalent in older adults in whom management is complicated by comorbidities and greater vulnerability to the cognitive effects of antimuscarinic medications., Objectives: The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive evidence-based summary of the 2021 State-of-the-Science (SOS) conference and a multidisciplinary expert literature review on OAB and cognitive impairment., Study Design: The American Urogynecologic Society and the Pelvic Floor Disorders Research Foundation convened a 3-day collaborative conference. Experts from multidisciplinary fields examined cognitive function, higher neural control of the OAB patient, risk factors for cognitive impairment in older patients, cognitive effects of antimuscarinic medications for OAB treatment, OAB phenotyping, conservative and advanced OAB therapies, and the need for a multidisciplinary approach to person-centered treatment. Translational topics included the blood-brain barrier, purine metabolome, mechanotransduction, and gene therapy for OAB targets., Results: Research surrounding OAB treatment efficacy in cognitively impaired individuals is limited. Short- and long-term outcomes regarding antimuscarinic effects on cognition are mixed; however, greater anticholinergic burden and duration of use influence risk. Oxybutynin is most consistently associated with negative cognitive effects in short-term, prospective studies. Although data are limited, beta-adrenergic agonists do not appear to confer the same cognitive risk., Conclusions: The 2021 SOS summary report provides a comprehensive review of the fundamental, translational, and clinical research on OAB with emphasis on cognitive impairment risks to antimuscarinic medications. Duration of use and antimuscarinic type, specifically oxybutynin when examining OAB treatments, appears to have the most cognitive impact; however, conclusions are limited by the primarily cognitively intact population studied. Given current evidence, it appears prudent to minimize anticholinergic burden by emphasizing nonantimuscarinic therapeutic regimens in the older population and/or those with cognitive impairment., Competing Interests: K.L.D. is a speaker (Education): Pacira, Inc. J.Z. received grant funding from Medtronic. A.W. is consultant and research support for Essity Hygiene & Health. Speaker bureau for Urovant Sciences. Research support for Pfizer Corp. C.E.DB. is part of the American Geriatric Society Beers Criteria Revision Panel. M.F.A.'s spouse is from Johnson & Johnson Corporate and received grant funding from National Institute on Aging, Alzheimer's Association, Tamara Harris Foundation. M.A. is part of MAB, Renovia, Inc. H.H.L. received grant funding from NIH, Medtronic: Interstim registry study, Neurspera: DSMB, Astella: Consultant, Ironwood, Biohaven, MicrogenDx: Consultant, V.W.S. received grant funding from NICHD. The remaining authors have declared that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved.)

Importance: Patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments measure the patient's perspective. It is unclear whether commonly used PRO measures were tested in populations that had racial and ethnic distributions comparable with those reported in U.S. census data., Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the proportion of non-White race and Hispanic ethnicity participants with their expected proportion based on U.S. census data for PRO instruments with U.S.-based validation studies., Study Design: This was a retrospective review of PRO measures considered by the Pelvic Floors Disorders Consortium Working Group on Patient-Reported Outcomes in their 2020 consensus publication. Study and participant information were abstracted from PRO validation studies. Racial and ethnic representation in U.S.-based studies were compared with U.S. census data. The primary outcome was the representation quotient of reported races and ethnicities, calculated as the reported percentage of the study population identifying with a race and/or ethnicity divided by the proportion of the U.S. population identifying with that race and/or ethnicity when the study was published., Results: Forty-five studies with 21,080 total participants were included. Race was reported in 17 of 45 studies (37.8%), and ethnicity was reported in 7 of 45 (15.6%). Most studies did not specify how race and ethnicity information was collected. For U.S.-based studies, the representation quotient of White participants from 1995 to 2019 was 1.15. Indigenous American/Native American/American Indian/Alaska Natives had the lowest representation quotient (0.22). Reporting of ethnicity increased over time (P = 0.001), although there was no significant change in the reporting of race or the representation of various races and ethnicities (P > 0.05)., Conclusion: Non-White and Hispanic patients may be underrepresented in U.S.-based validation studies for PRO instruments in pelvic floor disorders., Competing Interests: The authors have declared they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2022 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The primary aim of this study was to identify high prescribing specialties of overactive bladder (OAB) medications for Medicare Part D beneficiaries, and describe prescribing trends by specialty from 2013 to 2017. The secondary aim was to compare the proportion of medication claims by medication class in each specialty., Methods: We used the Medicare Part D Provider Public Use File to identify the four highest prescribing specialties from 2013 to 2017. We then compared patterns of OAB medication prescription for beneficiaries over 65 years of age between specialties. The number of medication claims, cost, and region were considered. OAB medications were classified as anticholinergic or mirabegron for additional comparison. The primary outcome was the number of OAB medication claims, and the secondary outcome was the proportion of mirabegron claims of all medication claims., Results: Primary care providers (PCPs), urology, obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYNs), and other specialties prescribed the most OAB medications. Total claims increased from 4.06 million in 2013 to 4.51 million in 2017. Mirabegron increased from 65,520 to 892,996 claims. PCPs prescribed the most OAB medications. Urologists had the highest proportion of mirabegron prescribing (19.6%), with an increased odds of mirabegron prescribing compared to OBGYNs (aOR 1.18, 95% CI 1.16-1.19). Compared to OBGYNs, PCPs, and other specialties demonstrated decreased odds of prescribing mirabegron (aOR 0.92 with 95% CI 0.91-0.93, and aOR 0.90 with 95% CI 0.88-0.91, respectively)., Conclusion: In Medicare Part D beneficiaries, PCPs prescribed the most OAB medications between 2013 and 2017. Urologists were most likely to prescribe mirabegron.

Background: The efficacy of intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA injections for the management of idiopathic overactive bladder has been well-established. The injections are typically performed in the office setting using local analgesia, most commonly a 20 to 30-minute intravesical instillation of lidocaine. There are limited data evaluating alternative bladder analgesics., Objective: To compare pain scores with preprocedure oral phenazopyridine vs intravesical lidocaine in women undergoing intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA injections for idiopathic overactive bladder., Study Design: Nonpregnant adult females with idiopathic overactive bladder, scheduled for office injection of 100 units of intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA were randomized to either 200 mg of oral phenazopyridine taken 1 to 2 hours preprocedure or a 20-minute preprocedure intravesical instillation of 50 mL of 2% lidocaine. We excluded participants with neurogenic bladders, and those who had received intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA injections in the previous 12 months. The primary outcome was pain measured by a 100-mm visual analog scale. Demographic characteristics and overall satisfaction with the procedure were also recorded. Providers answered questions about cystoscopic visualization, ease of procedure, and perception of participant comfort. Prespecified noninferiority margin was set to equal the anticipated minimum clinically important difference of 14 mm. A planned sample of 100 participants, 50 in each treatment arm, provided 80% power to detect noninferiority at a significance level of.05. We performed a modified intention-to-treat analysis and compared variables with the t test or the Fisher exact test., Results: A total of 111 participants were enrolled, and complete data were obtained for 100 participants; 47 participants were randomized to phenazopyridine and 53 to lidocaine. Baseline characteristics did not differ between groups. There were 19.6% and 20.8% of participants in the phenazopyridine and lidocaine groups, respectively, who previously underwent intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA injections. The mean postprocedure pain was 2.7 mm lower in the phenazopyridine group than in the lidocaine group (95% confidence interval, -11.3 to 10.7), demonstrating noninferiority. More than 90% of participants in both groups stated that the pain was tolerable. Slightly more participants reported being "very satisfied" in the lidocaine group, although this was not statistically significant (50.0% vs 40.4%; P=.34). Providers reported clear visualization in 89.4% of participants in the phenazopyridine group and in 100% of participants in the lidocaine group (P=.02). Provider perception of participant comfort and overall ease of procedure were not different between groups. Length of time in the exam room was significantly shorter in the phenazopyridine than in the lidocaine group (44.4 vs 57.5 minutes; P=.0003)., Conclusion: In women receiving intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA injections for idiopathic overactive bladder, oral phenazopyridine was noninferior to intravesical lidocaine for procedural pain control. Phenazopyridine is well-tolerated by participants, allows for the procedure to be performed with similar ease, and is associated with shorter appointment times., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: To determine whether percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) is superior to sham stimulation for the treatment of fecal incontinence (FI) in women refractory to first-line treatments., Methods: Women aged 18 years or older with ≥3 months of moderate-to-severe FI that persisted after a 4-week run-in phase were randomized 2:1 (PTNS:sham stimulation) to 12 weekly 30-minute sessions in this multicenter, single-masked, controlled superiority trial. The primary outcome was change from baseline FI severity measured by St. Mark score after 12 weeks of treatment (range 0-24; minimal important difference, 3-5 points). The secondary outcomes included electronic bowel diary events and quality of life. The groups were compared using an adjusted general linear mixed model., Results: Of 199 women who entered the run-in period, 166 (of 170 eligible) were randomized, (111 in PTNS group and 55 in sham group); the mean (SD) age was 63.6 (11.6) years; baseline St. Mark score was 17.4 (2.7); and recording was 6.6 (5.5) FI episodes per week. There was no difference in improvement from baseline in St. Mark scores in the PTNS group when compared with the sham group (-5.3 vs -3.9 points, adjusted difference [95% confidence interval] -1.3 [-2.8 to 0.2]). The groups did not differ in reduction in weekly FI episodes (-2.1 vs -1.9 episodes, adjusted difference [95% confidence interval] -0.26 [-1.85 to 1.33]). Condition-specific quality of life measures did not indicate a benefit of PTNS over sham stimulation. Serious adverse events occurred in 4% of each group., Discussion: Although symptom reduction after 12 weeks of PTNS met a threshold of clinical importance, it did not differ from sham stimulation. These data do not support the use of PTNS as conducted for the treatment of FI in women., (Copyright © 2022 by The American College of Gastroenterology.)

Background: The urogenital microbiome is associated with urgency and mixed urinary incontinence symptoms and differential treatment responses to pharmacotherapy for urgency urinary incontinence., Objective: This study aimed to describe whether the preoperative urinary and vaginal microbiomes were associated with surgical treatment responses at 12 months after a midurethral sling operation in women with mixed urinary incontinence., Study Design: This cohort study compared the preoperative microbiome compositions of urine and vaginal samples from a subset of women undergoing a midurethral sling operation in the Effects of Surgical Treatment Enhanced With Exercise for Mixed Urinary Incontinence trial (NCT01959347) and compared the microbiota in women who were surgical responders vs surgical nonresponders. Twelve-month objective response was defined as a ≥70% reduction from baseline urinary incontinence episodes on a 3-day diary. Subjective response was defined as a change from baseline in the Urogenital Distress Inventory scores. Bacterial abundance and beta diversity were assessed using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. The primary differential abundance analysis described predominant bacterial operational taxonomic units associated with responders vs nonresponders using unadjusted and age-adjusted linear models., Results: Objective nonresponders (n=28) compared with responders (n=72) were older (58.5±10.7 vs 51.6±10.2 years) and more likely postmenopausal without hormone use (odds ratio, 6.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-22.6). Vaginal and urinary microbiota beta diversities were associated with age (P<.05) for both responders and nonresponders. Overall, predominant operational taxonomic units (genera) were Lactobacillus, Gardnerella, Tepidimonas, Escherichia, Streptococcus, and Prevotella. Operational taxonomic units from baseline urine samples were not significantly associated (P threshold=.05) with surgical treatment responses. A greater abundance of baseline vaginal Lactobacillus was associated with an objective response (P=.04) and Prevotella with an objective nonresponse (P=.01). Adjusting for age, only a greater abundance of baseline vaginal Prevotella was associated with an objective nonresponse (P=.01). Moreover, less abundant vaginal operational taxonomic units were associated with objective and subjective responses and persistent urinary incontinence symptoms (P<.05)., Conclusion: Women meeting a 70% reduction of urinary incontinence treatment episodes (objective responders) had greater vaginal Lactobacillus at the time of the surgical procedure; however, controlling for age diminished this association. Women not meeting a 70% reduction of urinary incontinence episodes 1 year after a midurethral sling operation had greater vaginal Prevotella at the time of the midurethral sling operation. Further research is needed to determine whether therapy altering the vaginal microbiome may impact surgical treatment responses in women with mixed urinary incontinence., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aims: Develop models to predict outcomes after intradetrusor injection of 100 or 200 units of onabotulinumtoxinA in women with non-neurogenic urgency urinary incontinence (UUI)., Methods: Models were developed using 307 women from two randomized trials assessing efficacy of onabotulinumtoxinA for non-neurogenic UUI. Cox, linear and logistic regression models were fit using: (1) time to recurrence over 12 months, (2) change from baseline daily UUI episodes (UUIE) at 6 months, and (3) need for self-catheterization over 6 months. Model discrimination of Cox and logistic regression models was calculated using c-index. Mean absolute error determined accuracy of the linear model. Calibration was demonstrated using calibration curves. All models were internally validated using bootstrapping., Results: Median time to recurrence was 6 (interquartile range [IQR]: 2-12) months. Increasing age, 200 units of onabotulinumtoxinA, higher body mass index (BMI) and baseline UUIE were associated with decreased time to recurrence. The c-index was 0.63 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.59, 0.67). Median change in daily UUIE from baseline at 6 months was -3.5 (IQR: -5.0, -2.3). Increasing age, lower baseline UUIE, 200 units of onabotulinumtoxinA, higher BMI and IIQ-SF were associated with less improvement in UUIE. The mean absolute error predicting change in UUIE was accurate to 1.6 (95% CI: 1.5, 1.7) UUI episodes. The overall rate of self-catheterization was 17.6% (95% CI: 13.6%-22.4%). Lower BMI, 200 units of onabotulinumtoxinA, increased baseline postvoid residual and maximum capacity were associated with higher risk of self-catheterization. The c-index was 0.66 (95% CI: 0.61, 0.76). The three calculators are available at http://riskcalc.duke.edu., Conclusions: After external validation, these models will assist clinicians in providing more accurate estimates of expected treatment outcomes after onabotulinumtoxinA for non-neurogenic UUI in women., (© 2021 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Objectives: High-level evidence for second-line noninvasive treatments for fecal incontinence in women is limited. We present the rationale for and design of the NeuromOdulaTion for Accidental Bowel Leakage trial, a randomized controlled trial of percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) and validated sham stimulation in women with refractory accidental bowel leakage., Methods: The rationale and goals for a 2-part study with a run-in phase, use of a generic pulse generator for PTNS and sham stimulation, masking, participant inclusion, primary and secondary outcome measures, and adverse event collection are described. A superiority design will be used to compare change from baseline in St. Mark's score after 12 weekly stimulation sessions between PTNS and sham. Responders to initial treatment (PTNS or sham) will be assigned to scheduled or "as needed" intervention for up to 1 year. Secondary outcome measures include incontinence episodes and other bowel events recorded in a 14-day electronic bowel diary, general and condition-specific quality of life instruments, adaptive behavior, global impression of improvement, symptom control, and sexual function., Results: Sample size calculations determined that 165 participants (110 PTNS and 55 sham) would provide 90% power to detect greater than or equal to 4-point difference between PTNS and sham in change from baseline in St. Mark's score at 12 weeks., Conclusions: The methods for the NeuromOdulaTion for Accidental Bowel Leakage trial will provide high-level evidence of the effectiveness and optimal maintenance therapy schedule of a low-cost PTNS protocol in community-dwelling women seeking second-line intervention for refractory accidental bowel leakage., Competing Interests: The authors have declared they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved.)

Background: Urinary incontinence is prevalent among women, and it has a substantial economic impact. Mixed urinary incontinence, with both stress and urgency urinary incontinence symptoms, has a greater adverse impact on quality of life and is more complex to treat than either stress or urgency urinary incontinence alone. Studies evaluating the cost-effectiveness of treating both the stress and urgency urinary incontinence components simultaneously are lacking., Objective: Cost-effectiveness was assessed between perioperative behavioral and pelvic floor muscle therapies combined with midurethral sling surgery and midurethral sling surgery alone for the treatment of women with mixed urinary incontinence. The impact of baseline severe urgency urinary incontinence symptoms on cost-effectiveness was assessed., Study Design: This prospective economic evaluation was performed concurrently with the Effects of Surgical Treatment Enhanced with Exercise for Mixed Urinary Incontinence randomized trial that was conducted from October 2013 to April 2016. Participants included 480 women with moderate-to-severe stress and urgency urinary incontinence symptoms and at least 1 stress urinary incontinence episode and 1 urgency urinary incontinence episode on a 3-day bladder diary. The primary within-trial analysis was from the healthcare sector and societal perspectives, with a 1-year time horizon. Costs were in 2019 US dollars. Effectiveness was measured in quality-adjusted life-years and reductions in urinary incontinence episodes per day. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios of combined treatment vs midurethral sling surgery alone were calculated, and cost-effectiveness acceptability curves were generated. Analysis was performed for the overall study population and subgroup of women with Urogenital Distress Inventory irritative scores of ≥50th percentile., Results: The costs for combined treatment were higher than the cost for midurethral sling surgery alone from both the healthcare sector perspective ($5100 [95% confidence interval, $5000-$5190] vs $4470 [95% confidence interval, $4330-$4620]; P<.01) and the societal perspective ($9260 [95% confidence interval, $8590-$9940] vs $8090 [95% confidence interval, $7630-$8560]; P<.01). There was no difference between combined treatment and midurethral sling surgery alone in quality-adjusted life-years (0.87 [95% confidence interval, 0.86-0.89] vs 0.87 [95% confidence interval, 0.86-0.89]; P=.90) or mean reduction in urinary incontinence episodes per day (-4.76 [95% confidence interval, -4.51 to 5.00] vs -4.50 [95% confidence interval, -4.25 to 4.75]; P=.13). When evaluating the overall study population, from both the healthcare sector and societal perspectives, midurethral sling surgery alone was superior to combined treatment. The probability that combined treatment is cost-effective compared with midurethral sling surgery alone is ≤28% from the healthcare sector and ≤19% from the societal perspectives for a willingness-to-pay value of ≤$150,000 per quality-adjusted life-years. For women with baseline Urogenital Distress Inventory irritative scores of ≥50th percentile, combined treatment was cost-effective compared with midurethral sling surgery alone from both the healthcare sector and societal perspectives. The probability that combined treatment is cost-effective compared with midurethral sling surgery alone for this subgroup is ≥90% from both the healthcare sector and societal perspectives, at a willingness-to-pay value of ≥$150,000 per quality-adjusted life-years., Conclusion: Overall, perioperative behavioral and pelvic floor muscle therapies combined with midurethral sling surgery was not cost-effective compared with midurethral sling surgery alone for the treatment of women with mixed urinary incontinence. However, combined treatment was of good value compared with midurethral sling surgery alone for women with baseline severe urgency urinary incontinence symptoms., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate characteristics associated with treatment failure 1 year after midurethral sling in women with mixed urinary incontinence., Methods: Four-hundred three women who participated in a randomized trial that compared midurethral sling and behavioral and pelvic floor muscle therapy (combined group) compared with midurethral sling alone for mixed incontinence with 1-year follow-up data were eligible for this planned secondary analysis. Overall treatment failure was defined as meeting criteria for subjective or objective failure or both. Subjective failure was defined as not meeting the minimal clinical important difference for improvement on the UDI (Urogenital Distress Inventory) total score (26.1 points). Objective failure was defined as not achieving 70% improvement on mean incontinence episodes of any type per day or having undergone any additional treatment for persistent urinary symptoms at 12 months postoperative. Logistic regression models for treatment failure were constructed. Independent variables included site and treatment group, and clinical and demographic variables based on bivariate comparisons (P<.2). Treatment group interaction effects were evaluated., Results: One hundred twelve of 379 (29.6%) women had overall treatment failure, with 56 of 379 (14.7%) undergoing additional treatment but only two needing intervention for stress incontinence. Previous overactive bladder (OAB) medication (unadjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.19, adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.96, 95% CI 1.17-3.31); detrusor overactivity on cystometrogram (OR 2.25, aOR 2.82, 95% CI 1.60-4.97); and higher volume at first urge (OR 1.03, aOR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01-1.07) were associated with overall failure. Worse UDI-urgency scores were associated with failure, with an added interaction effect in the midurethral sling-alone group., Conclusions: Certain clinical and urodynamic variables are associated with treatment failure after midurethral sling in women with mixed urinary incontinence. Women with more severe urgency symptoms at baseline may benefit from perioperative behavioral and pelvic floor muscle therapy combined with midurethral sling. Overall, the need for additional urinary treatment was low and primarily for OAB., Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01959347., Competing Interests: Financial Disclosure Pamela Moalli received funding from Hologic for serving on the scientific advisory board. Diane K. Newman served on the Steering Committee and was Editor for UroToday Pelvic Health Center of Excellence. Alison C. Weidner was Consultant for Urocure and Dignify Therapeutics. Ariana Smith reports that her institution received funding from the NIDDK and the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Gena Dunivan received Research support from Pelvalon and Viveve. Beri Ridgeway was Consultant for Coloplast, Inc. Marie Gantz reports that money was paid to her institution from the NIDDK, NICHD, and NHLBI. The other authors did not report any potential conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe preference for and knowledge of hysterectomy routes in women presenting to urogynecology/gynecology clinics throughout the United States and to determine association with health literacy. Our primary aim was preference for hysterectomy route, and secondary aims were knowledge of basic pelvic structures and function, knowledge of various hysterectomy routes, and baseline health literacy level., Methods: This multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted through the Fellows' Pelvic Research Network. Patients' preference and knowledge for hysterectomy routes were assessed at initial presentation to the urogynecology/gynecology clinic with an anonymous, voluntary, self-administered questionnaire along with a validated health literacy test (Medical Term Recognition Test)., Results: Two hundred four women participated. Forty-five percent of patients were unsure which hysterectomy modality they would choose. Of patients who selected a preferred modality, 50% selected laparoscopic and 33% selected vaginal. Patients indicated that safety was considered highest priority when selecting route. The mean score for "knowledge about gynecology/hysterectomy" was 68%, with the high literacy group scoring higher compared with the low health literacy group (70% vs 60.1%, P = 0.01). More than 50% of patients incorrectly answered knowledge questions related to vaginal hysterectomy. Majority of the respondents had high health literacy (79.4%)., Conclusions: Patients prefer laparoscopic hysterectomy approach, although have limited understanding of vaginal hysterectomy. Higher health literacy levels are associated with increased knowledge of gynecology and hysterectomy routes, but were not found to influence patient preference for hysterectomy route. Overall, patients have limited knowledge of vaginal hysterectomy., Competing Interests: The authors have declared they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved.)

BACKGROUND Research indicates intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) is a potential treatment of post-stroke aphasia. MATERIAL AND METHODS In this double-blind, sham-controlled trial (NCT01512264) participants were randomized to receive 3 weeks of sham (G₀), 1 week of iTBS/2 weeks of sham (G₁), 2 weeks of iTBS/1 week of sham (G₂), or 3 weeks of iTBS (G₃). FMRI localized residual language function in the left hemisphere; iTBS was applied to the maximum fMRI activation in the residual language cortex in the left frontal lobe. FMRI and aphasia testing were conducted pre-treatment, at ≤1 week after completing treatment, and at 3 months follow-up. RESULTS 27/36 participants completed the trial. We compared G0 to each of the individual treatment group and to all iTBS treatment groups combined (G₁₋₃). In individual groups, participants gained (of moderate or large effect sizes; some significant at P<0.05) on the Boston Naming Test (BNT), the Semantic Fluency Test (SFT), and the Aphasia Quotient of the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (WAB-R AQ). In G₁₋₃, BNT, and SFT improved immediately after treatment, while the WAB-R AQ improved at 3 months. Compared to G₀, the other groups showed greater fMRI activation in both hemispheres and non-significant increases in language lateralization to the left hemisphere. Changes in IFG connectivity were noted with iTBS, showing differences between time-points, with some of them correlating with the behavioral measures. CONCLUSIONS The results of this pilot trial support the hypothesis that iTBS applied to the ipsilesional hemisphere can improve aphasia and result in cortical plasticity.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to describe changes in leisure physical activity (PA) levels and physical functioning (PF) in women 60 months or more after midurethral sling for stress urinary incontinence (SUI)., Methods: This is a long-term follow-up study of a previously published prospective study of women undergoing outpatient midurethral sling for SUI from 2009 to 2011. Women completed questionnaires for incontinence, PA, and PF at baseline, 6, 12, and 60 months or more postoperatively. Women were categorized as having sedentary, insufficient, or sufficient leisure PA levels by metabolic equivalents (MET min/week on the International Physical Activity Questionnaire). Physical functioning was measured from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System. Physical activity and PF levels were compared preoperatively and at 60 months or more. Statistical tests were applied as appropriate with a P < 0.05 considered significant., Results: Of the 85 women enrolled in the primary study, contact was made with 49, and 35 completed surveys. The follow-up range was 5.8 to 8 years (median, 6.8). Baseline mean age was 49.8 (SD, 8) years. Urinary Impact Questionnaire scores were lower at 60 months or more postprocedure (33.33 vs 0, P < 0.001), with no differences at 6, 12, and 60 months or more. At baseline, 31.3% of patients had sedentary, 12.5% had moderate, and 56.3% had sufficient leisure PA levels. On long-term follow-up, this improved to 21.9% sedentary, 12.5% moderate, and 65.6% sufficient leisure PA levels. Physical functioning also improved (mean, 44.95 vs 53.18 points; P < 0.001)., Conclusions: Midurethral sling procedures are associated with modest improvements in leisure PA levels and significant improvements in PF 60 months or more after surgery., Competing Interests: The authors have declared they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2019 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved..)

Objectives: To provide the rationale and design for a randomized, double-blind clinical trial of conjugated estrogen vaginal cream (applied for at least 5 weeks preoperatively and continued twice-weekly through 12 months postoperatively) compared with placebo in postmenopausal women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse undergoing a standardized transvaginal native tissue apical repair., Methods: Study population, randomization process, study cream intervention, masking of participants and evaluators, placebo cream manufacture, standardized surgical intervention, and collection of adverse events are described. The primary outcome of surgical success is a composite of objectively no prolapse beyond the hymen and the vaginal cuff descending no more than one third the vaginal length; subjectively, no sense of vaginal pressure or bulging; and no retreatment for prolapse at 12 months. Time-to-failure postoperatively will be compared in the 2 groups with continued surveillance to 36 months. Secondary outcomes assessed at baseline, preoperatively (ie, after at least 5 weeks of study cream), and postoperatively at 6 month intervals include validated condition-specific and general quality-of-life metrics, overall impression of improvement, sexual function, vaginal atrophy symptoms, and body image. Challenges unique to this study include design and manufacture of placebo and defining and measuring study drug adherence., Results: Recruitment of 204 women is complete with 197 randomized. There have been 174 surgeries completed with 15 more pending; 111 have completed their 12 month postoperative visit., Conclusions: This trial will contribute evidence-based information regarding the effect of perioperative vaginal estrogen as an adjunct therapy to standardized transvaginal native tissue prolapse surgical repair., Competing Interests: The authors have declared they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved.)

Objective: We present the rationale for and the design of a prospective trial to evaluate the role of preoperative frailty and mobility assessments in older women undergoing surgery for the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) as a planned prospective supplemental trial to the ASPIRe (Apical Suspension Repair for Vault Prolapse In a Three-Arm Randomized Trial Design) trial. The Frailty ASPIRe Study (FASt) examines the impact of preoperative frailty and mobility on surgical outcomes in older women (≥65 years) participating in the ASPIRe trial. The primary objective of FASt is to determine the impact of preoperative age, multimorbidity, frailty, and decreased mobility on postoperative outcomes in older women (≥65 years old) undergoing surgery for POP., Methods: The selection of the preoperative assessments, primary outcome measures, and participant inclusion is described. Frailty and mobility measurements will be collected at the preoperative visit and include the 6 Robinson frailty measurements and the Timed Up and Go mobility test. The main outcome measure in the FASt supplemental study will be moderate to severe postoperative adverse events according to the Clavien-Dindo Severity Classification., Conclusions: This trial will assess impact of preoperative age, multimorbidity, frailty, and decreased mobility on postoperative outcomes in older women (≥65 years old) undergoing surgical procedures for the correction of apical POP. Information from this trial may help both primary care providers and surgeons better advise/inform women on their individual risks of surgical complications and provide more comprehensive postoperative care to women at highest risk of complications., Competing Interests: E.E. receives grant funding from NIH/National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences NCATS KL2TR001088; S.M. receives honoraria from UpToDate is a board member of the American Urogynecologic Society; Y.M.K. receives grant funding and salary supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health R01AT007171; C.A.F. receives unrestricted research grants from Coloplast, Inc, and Caldera, Inc, and royalties from UpToDate, Inc; D.D.R. receives grant funding and investigator-initiated research with Pfizer (study drug provided by company), R01 AG047290; D.M. is a government employee (NIH/NICHD); H.E.R. receives grant funding from NICHD/National Institute on Aging and Pelvalon, is consultant to Pelvalon, Bluewind, and Renovia, receives royalties from Up to Date, and is board member of the Society of Gynecologic Surgeons, World Wide Fistula Fund. The other authors have declared they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved.)

Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to compare patient versus physician rankings of adverse event (AE) and adverse symptom (AS) severity after pelvic reconstructive surgery. Secondary objectives include to estimate the association between patient rankings of AEs/ASs with decision-making and quality-of-life outcomes and to determine whether patient perspective about AE/AS changes over time., Methods: This is a supplementary study, Patient-Perspectives in Adverse Event Reporting (PPAR), to the index trial, ASPIRe (Apical Suspension Repair for Vault Prolapse In a Three-Arm Randomized Trial Design). During the trial, AEs/ASs will be assessed by physicians longitudinally every 6 months, which includes a determination of the AE/AS grade severity. For PPAR, additional patient perspective will be measured for 19 predetermined AEs/ASs at the time of identification and again at 12 and 36 months postoperatively. Decision-making and quality-of-life questionnaires will be collected at these time points. The primary outcome, the overall interrater agreement between patient and physician rankings for AE/AS severity, will be determined using a repeated-measures concordance correlation coefficient., Results: To date, the index trial has completed enrollment, and follow-up is ongoing., Conclusions: The PPAR methods for incorporating patient perspective in the measurement of AEs/ASs to determine their agreement with physician ranking, long-term relevance, and impact on treatment decision making and quality of life are described. This will contribute to improved measurements of AEs/ASs in future research with the goal of improving patient counseling and informing expectations and treatment decision making., Competing Interests: The authors have declared they have no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 American Urogynecologic Society. All rights reserved.)

Introduction and Hypothesis: We describe the responsiveness and minimally important difference (MID) of the Accidental Bowel Leakage Evaluation (ABLE) questionnaire., Methods: Women with bowel leakage completed ABLE, Patient Global Impression of Improvement, Colo-Rectal Anal Distress Inventory, and Vaizey questionnaires pretreatment and again at 24 weeks post-treatment. Change scores were correlated between questionnaires. Student's t tests compared ABLE change scores for improved versus not improved based on other measures. The MID was determined by anchor- and distribution-based approaches., Results: In 266 women, the mean age was 63.75 (SD = 11.14) and 79% were white. Mean baseline ABLE scores were 2.32 ± 0.56 (possible range 1-5) with a reduction of 0.62 (SD = 0.79) by 24 weeks. ABLE change scores correlated with related measures change scores (r = 0.24 to 0.53) and differed between women who improved and did not improve (all p < 0.001). Standardized response means for participants who improved were large ranging from -0.89 to -1.12. Distribution-based methods suggest a MID of -0.19 based on the criterion of one SEM and -0.28 based on half a standard deviation. Anchor-based MIDs ranged from -0.10 to -0.45. We recommend a MID of -0.20., Conclusions: The ABLE questionnaire is responsive to change, with a suggested MID of -0.20.

SRX246 is a vasopressin (AVP) 1a receptor antagonist that crosses the blood-brain barrier. It reduced impulsive aggression, fear, depression and anxiety in animal models, blocked the actions of intranasal AVP on aggression/fear circuits in an experimental medicine fMRI study and demonstrated excellent safety in Phase 1 multiple-ascending dose clinical trials. The present study was a 3-arm, multicenter, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, 12-week, dose escalation study of SRX246 in early symptomatic Huntington's disease (HD) patients with irritability. Our goal was to determine whether SRX246 was safe and well tolerated in these HD patients given its potential use for the treatment of problematic neuropsychiatric symptoms. Participants were randomized to receive placebo or to escalate to 120 mg twice daily or 160 mg twice daily doses of SRX246. Assessments included standard safety tests, the Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS), and exploratory measures of problem behaviors. The groups had comparable demographics, features of HD and baseline irritability. Eighty-two out of 106 subjects randomized completed the trial on their assigned dose of drug. One-sided exact-method confidence interval tests were used to reject the null hypothesis of inferior tolerability or safety for each dose group vs. placebo. Apathy and suicidality were not affected by SRX246. Most adverse events in the active arms were considered unlikely to be related to SRX246. The compound was safe and well tolerated in HD patients and can be moved forward as a candidate to treat irritability and aggression., Competing Interests: Funding: National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke SBIR Fast-track award to Azevan Pharmaceuticals, Inc (U44NS090616), NINDS grants supporting the NeuroNext Network (Clinical Coordinating Center U01NS077179; Data Coordinating Center U01NS077352), the CHDI Foundation (grant to NGS) and Azevan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The STAIR trial was sponsored by Azevan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and was conducted through the NINDS NeuroNEXT Network (22 sites).

Aims: To assess performance, acceptability, external validity, and reliability of a phone application electronic bowel diary (PFDN Bowel eDiary)., Methods: Women reporting refractory accidental bowel leakage (ABL) were enrolled in a randomized, crossover trial evaluating paper versus eDiary documentation of bowel movements (BM) and fecal incontinence episodes (FIE). Events were characterized by the presence or absence of urgency and Bristol stool scale consistency. The eDiary entries were date/time stamped and prompted by twice-daily phone notifications. Women were randomized to complete up to three consecutive 14-day diaries in two sequences. Diary events were compared between formats using the Pearson correlation. System usability scale (SUS) assessed eDiary usability. The eDiary test-retest reliability was assessed with intraclass correlations (ICCs)., Results: Paired diary data were available from 60/69 (87%) women 63.8 ± 9.8 years old with mean 13.2 BM per week and 6.5 FIE per week (nearly half with urgency). Among those providing diaries, adherence did not differ by paper or eDiary (93.3% vs. 95.0%). Notifications prompted 29.6% of eDiary entries, improving adherence from 70% to 95%. Paper and eDiaries were moderate to-strongly correlated for BMs per week (r = .61), urgency BMs per week (r = .76), FIE per week (r = .66), urgency FIE per week (r = .72). Test-retest reliability was good (ICC = .81 BMs per week, .79 urgency BMs per week, .74 FIE per week, and .62 urgency FIE per week). The mean SUS score was high, 82.3 ± 17.5 (range, 0-100) with 91.4% rating it easy to use, and 75.9% preferring the eDiary over paper., Conclusion: The PFDN Bowel eDiary correlated well with paper diary was considered easy to use, preferred to paper diaries, had high rates of confirmed real-time diary completion that obviated staff data entry., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Introduction and Hypothesis: Limited data exist comparing different surgical approaches in women with advanced vaginal prolapse. This study compared 2-year surgical outcomes of uterosacral ligament suspension (ULS) and sacrospinous ligament fixation (SSLF) in women with advanced prolapse (stage III-IV) and stress urinary incontinence., Methods: This was a secondary analysis of a multicenter 2 × 2 factorial randomized trial comparing (1) ULS versus SSLF and (2) behavioral therapy with pelvic floor muscle training versus usual care. Of 374 subjects, 117/188 (62.7%) in the ULS and 113/186 (60.7%) in the SSLF group had advanced prolapse. Two-year surgical success was defined by the absence of (1) apical descent > 1/3 into the vaginal canal, (2) anterior/posterior wall descent beyond the hymen, (3) bothersome bulge symptoms, and (4) retreatment for prolapse. Secondary outcomes included individual success outcome components, symptom severity measured by the Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory, and adverse events. Outcomes were also compared in women with advanced prolapse versus stage II prolapse., Results: Success did not differ between groups (ULS: 58.2% [57/117] versus SSLF: 58.5% [55/113], aOR 1.0 [0.5-1.8]). No differences were detected in individual success components (p > 0.05 for all components). Prolapse symptom severity scores improved in both interventions with no intergroup differences (p = 0.82). Serious adverse events did not differ (ULS: 19.7% versus SSLF: 16.8%, aOR 1.2 [0.6-2.4]). Success was lower in women with advanced prolapse compared with stage II (58.3% versus 73.2%, aOR 0.5 [0.3-0.9]), with no retreatment in stage II., Conclusions: Surgical success, symptom severity, and overall serious adverse events did not differ between ULS and SSLF in women with advanced prolapse. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01166373.

Objective: To evaluate characteristics associated with treatment failure 1 year after midurethral sling in women with mixed urinary incontinence., Methods: Four hundred three women who participated in a randomized trial that compared midurethral sling and behavioral and pelvic floor muscle therapy (combined group) against midurethral sling alone for mixed incontinence with 1 year of follow-up data were eligible for this planned secondary analysis. Overall treatment failure was defined as meeting criteria for subjective failure, objective failure, or both. Subjective failure was defined as not meeting the minimal clinically important difference for improvement on the UDI (Urogenital Distress Inventory)-total score (26.1 points). Objective failure was not achieving 70% improvement on mean incontinence episodes of any type per day or having undergone any additional treatment for urinary symptoms at 12 months postoperative. Logistic regression models for treatment failure were constructed. Independent variables included site and treatment group, and clinical and demographic variables based on bivariate comparisons (P<.2). Treatment group interaction effects were evaluated., Results: Previous overactive bladder medication use (unadjusted odds ratio [OR] 2.19, adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.89, 95% CI 1.10-3.25), detrusor overactivity on cystometrogram (OR 2.25, aOR 2.72, 95% CI 1.53-4.84), body mass index (OR 1.29, aOR 1.27, 95% CI 1.03-1.57), and Valsalva leak point pressure less than 60 cm H2O (OR 1.96, aOR 3.13, 95% CI 1.65-5.94) were associated with overall failure. Worse UDI urgency scores were associated with failure in the midurethral sling-alone group. Sling type (retropubic vs transobturator) was not associated with failure., Conclusion: Certain clinical and urodynamic variables are associated with treatment failure after midurethral sling among women with mixed urinary incontinence. Women with more severe urgency symptoms at baseline may benefit from perioperative behavioral and pelvic floor muscle therapy combined with midurethral sling. This information is helpful for counseling women with mixed incontinence who are considering surgery., Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01959347.

Objective: In 2015, 44 million adults were informal, unpaid caregivers to an adult or child. Caregiving (CG) is associated with poor self-care, higher depression rates, and decreased quality of life. Our primary objective was to determine if CG is associated with a delay in seeking care for pelvic floor disorders (PFDs)., Methods: We performed a cross-sectional survey of new urogynecology patients from September 2015 to January 2016. Subjects completed the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory, Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire, Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-Depression surveys, and a survey of care-seeking practices. Caregiving was defined as considering one's self a primary caregiver and assisting with 2 or more activities and instrumental activities of daily living. Multiple logistic regression identified variables associated with delayed care-seeking for 1 or more year., Results: Two hundred fifty-six patients completed the survey, 82 caregivers (32%) and 174 noncaregivers (NCGs). Sixty-seven percent of caregivers cared for a child and 33% for an adult. There was no difference between caregivers and NCGs in PFD symptom duration, Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory, or Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System depression scores. Caregiving had higher mean Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire scores (69.6 vs 51.0, P = 0.02). There was no difference in proportion of patients who delayed care for 1 year or more (42% vs 54%, P = 0.08). A higher proportion of caregivers for an adult waited for 1 year or more (75% vs 42% NCG, P = 0.001). On multiple logistic regression, CG for adults only was associated with delaying care for 1 year or more (adjusted odds ratio, 3.73; confidence interval, 1.33-10.44; P = 0.01)., Conclusions: One third of patients presenting to a urogynecology practice are caregivers. Caregiving for an adult was associated with a delay in seeking care for PFDs.

Introduction and Hypothesis: The benefits of peer support for pelvic floor disorders are unclear. We hypothesize that perioperative peer support might be associated with greater preoperative preparedness compared with usual care in women undergoing pelvic reconstruction., Methods: A multicenter prospective cohort study of women undergoing pelvic reconstruction compared peer support (group or one-to-one) with usual care. The primary outcome was preparedness, measured by a Preoperative Preparedness Questionnaire at baseline and before surgery. Assuming 48% preparedness in usual care preoperatively, 44 women per group (Group, One-to-One, or Usual care) would detect a 30% difference in preparedness (alpha = 0.05, 80% power). Chi-squared or Fisher's exact test compared categorical variables, t test and analysis of variance compared continuous variables, independent sample tests compared changes in mean or composite scores, and multiple logistic regression estimated the effect., Results: One hundred and sixty-eight patients were included (113 with peer support, 55 undergoing usual care). A greater proportion of women in peer support had college or higher education versus usual care (78 vs 58%, P = 0.02). After the intervention, the proportion of women feeling prepared was not different between groups (66 vs 63%, P = 0.9). However, a greater proportion in peer support reported improved preparedness from baseline compared with usual care (71 vs 44%, P = 0.001). Peer support was associated with improved preparedness on multiple regression adjusting for age, study site, education, and surgery type (OR 4.14, 95% CI 1.69, 10.14)., Conclusion: Peer support was associated with improved preoperative preparedness compared with usual care, but did not result in a greater proportion of women feeling prepared before surgery.

Purpose: Sacral neuromodulation and intradetrusor onabotulinumtoxinA injection are therapies for refractory urgency urinary incontinence. Sacral neuromodulation involves surgical implantation of a device that can last 4 to 6 years while onabotulinumtoxinA therapy involves serial office injections. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of 2-stage implantation sacral neuromodulation vs 200 units onabotulinumtoxinA for the treatment of urgency urinary incontinence., Materials and Methods: Prospective economic evaluation was performed concurrent with the ROSETTA (Refractory Overactive Bladder: Sacral NEuromodulation vs. BoTulinum Toxin Assessment) randomized trial of 386 women with 6 or more urgency urinary incontinence episodes on a 3-day diary. Analysis is from the health care system perspective with primary within-trial analysis for 2 years and secondary 5-year decision analysis. Costs are in 2018 U.S. dollars. Effectiveness was measured in quality adjusted life-years (QALYs) and reductions in urgency urinary incontinence episodes per day. We generated incremental cost-effectiveness ratios and cost-effectiveness acceptability curves., Results: Two-year costs were higher for sacral neuromodulation than for onabotulinumtoxinA ($35,680 [95% CI 33,920-37,440] vs $7,460 [95% CI 5,780-9,150], p <0.01), persisting through 5 years ($36,550 [95% CI 34,787-38,309] vs $12,020 [95% CI 10,330-13,700], p <0.01). At 2 years there were no differences in mean reduction in urgency urinary incontinence episodes per day (-3.00 [95% CI -3.38 - -2.62] vs -3.12 [95% CI -3.48 - -2.76], p=0.66) or QALYs (1.39 [95% CI 1.34-1.44] vs 1.41 [95% CI 1.36-1.45], p=0.60). The probability that sacral neuromodulation is cost-effective relative to onabotulinumtoxinA is less than 0.025 for all willingness to pay values below $580,000 per QALY at 2 years and $204,000 per QALY at 5 years., Conclusions: Although both treatments were effective, the high cost of sacral neuromodulation is not good value for treating urgency urinary incontinence compared to 200 units onabotulinumtoxinA.

Background: Questionnaires assessing accidental bowel leakage lack important patient-centered symptoms., Objective: We aimed to create a valid measure of accidental bowel leakage symptoms., Design: We previously created a conceptual framework capturing patient-centered accidental bowel leakage symptoms. The framework included bowel leakage type, severity and bother, and ancillary bowel symptoms, including predictability, awareness, leakage control, emptying disorders, and discomfort., Settings: The study was conducted in outpatient clinics., Patients: Women with at least monthly accidental bowel leakage were included., Interventions: Participants completed the Accidental Bowel Leakage Evaluation at baseline and 12 and 24 weeks, as well as bowel diaries and other validated pelvic floor questionnaires. A subset completed items twice before treatment. Final item selection was based on psychometric properties and clinical importance., Main Outcome Measures: Psychometric analyses included Cronbach α, confirmatory factor, and item response theory analyses. Construct validity was based on correlations with measures of similar constructs., Results: A total of 296 women completed baseline items, and 70 provided test-retest data. The cohort was predominately white (79%) and middle aged (64 ± 11 y). Confirmatory factor analyses supported the conceptual framework. The final 18-item scale demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.77-0.90) and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation = 0.80). Construct validity was demonstrated with baseline and 12- and 24-week scale scores, which correlated with the Vaizey (r = 0.52, 0.68, and 0.69), Colorectal Anal Distress Inventory (r = 0.54, 0.65, 0.71), Colorectal Anal Impact Questionnaire (r = 0.48, 0.53, 0.53), and hygiene (r = 0.39, 0.43, 0.49) and avoidance subscales scores of the adaptive index (r = 0.45, 0.44, 0.43) and average number of pad changes per day on bowel diaries (r = 0.35, 0.38, 0.31; all p < 0.001)., Limitations: The study was limited by nature of involving validation in a care-seeking population., Conclusions: The Accidental Bowel Leakage Evaluation instrument is a reliable, patient-centered measure with good validity properties. This instrument improves on currently available measures by adding patient-important domains of predictability, awareness, control, emptying, and discomfort. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/B172. EVALUACIóN DE FUGA INTESTINAL ACCIDENTAL: UNA NUEVA MEDIDA VALIDADA Y CENTRADA EN PACIENTES FEMENINOS CON SíNTOMAS DE FUGA INTESTINAL ACCIDENTAL: Los cuestionarios que evalúan la fuga intestinal accidental, carecen de síntomas centrados en el paciente.Nuestro objetivo fue crear una medida válida de síntomas de fuga intestinal accidental.Previamente creamos un marco conceptual centrado en el paciente, para capturar síntomas de fuga intestinal accidental. El marco incluía tipo de fuga intestinal, gravedad, molestia, y síntomas intestinales auxiliares, incluyendo previsibilidad, conciencia, control de fugas, trastornos de vaciado e incomodidad.Clínicas de pacientes externos.Mujeres con al menos una fuga intestinal accidental mensual.Las participantes completaron la Evaluación de Fuga Intestinal Accidental al inicio del estudio y a las 12 y 24 semanas, así como diarios intestinales y otros cuestionarios validados del piso pélvico. Un subconjunto completó los elementos dos veces antes del tratamiento. La selección final del elemento se basó en las propiedades psicométricas y la importancia clínica.Los análisis psicométricos incluyeron el Alfa de Cronbach, factor confirmatorio y análisis de la teoría de respuesta al elemento. La validez de constructo se basó en correlaciones con medidas de constructos similares.Un total de 296 mujeres completaron los elementos de referencia y 70 proporcionaron datos de test-retest. La cohorte fue predominantemente blanca (79%) y de mediana edad (64 +/- 11 años). Análisis factorial confirmatorio respaldó el marco conceptual. La escala final de 18 elementos, demostró una buena consistencia interna (Alfa de Cronbach = 0,77-0,90) y fiabilidad test-retest (correlación intraclase = 0,80). La validez de constructo se demostró con puntajes de escala de referencia de 12 y 24 semanas que se correlacionaron con Vaizey (r = 0,52, 0,68 y 0,69), Inventario de Ansiedad colorecto anal (r = 0,54, 0,65, 0,71), Cuestionarios de Impacto colorecto anal (r = 0,48, 0,53, 0,53) e higiene (r = 0,39, 0,43, 0,49), puntuaciones de subescalas de evitación del índice adaptativo (r = 0,45, 0,44, 0,43), número promedio de cambios de almohadilla por día, de los diarios intestinales (r = 0.35, 0.38, 0.31), todos p <.001.Validación de una población en busca de atención.El instrumento de Evaluación de Fuga Intestinal Accidental es una medida confiable, centrada en el paciente y con buenas propiedades de validez. Este instrumento mejora las medidas actualmente disponibles, al agregar dominios importantes para el paciente de previsibilidad, conciencia, control, vaciado e incomodidad. Consulte Video Resumen en http://links.lww.com/DCR/B172. (Traducción-Dr. Fidel Ruiz Healy).

Background: Although the vaginal and urinary microbiomes have been increasingly well-characterized in health and disease, few have described the relationship between these neighboring environments. Elucidating this relationship has implications for understanding how manipulation of the vaginal microbiome may affect the urinary microbiome and treatment of common urinary conditions., Objective: To describe the relationship between urinary and vaginal microbiomes using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We hypothesized that the composition of the urinary and vaginal microbiomes would be significantly associated, with similarities in predominant taxa., Study Design: This multicenter study collected vaginal swabs and catheterized urine samples from 186 women with mixed urinary incontinence enrolled in a parent study and 84 similarly aged controls. Investigators decided a priori that if vaginal and/or urinary microbiomes differed between continent and incontinent women, the groups would be analyzed separately; if similar, samples from continent and incontinent women would be pooled and analyzed together. A central laboratory sequenced variable regions 1-3 (v1-3) and characterized bacteria to the genus level. Operational taxonomic unit abundance was described for paired vaginal and urine samples. Pearson's correlation characterized the relationship between individual operational taxonomic units of paired samples. Canonical correlation analysis evaluated the association between clinical variables (including mixed urinary incontinence and control status) and vaginal and urinary operational taxonomic units, using the Canonical correlation analysis function in the Vegan package (R version 3.5). Linear discriminant analysis effect size was used to find taxa that discriminated between vaginal and urinary samples., Results: Urinary and vaginal samples were collected from 212 women (mean age 53±11 years) and results from 197 paired samples were available for analysis. As operational taxonomic units in mixed urinary incontinence and control samples were related in canonical correlation analysis and since taxa did not discriminate between mixed urinary incontinence or controls in either vagina or urine, mixed urinary incontinence and control samples were pooled for further analysis. Canonical correlation analysis of vaginal and urinary samples indicated that that 60 of the 100 most abundant operational taxonomic units in the samples largely overlapped. Lactobacillus was the most abundant genus in both urine and vagina (contributing on average 53% to an individual's urine sample and 64% to an individual's vaginal sample) (Pearson correlation r=0.53). Although less abundant than Lactobacillus, other bacteria with high Pearson correlation coefficients also commonly found in vagina and urine included: Gardnerella (r=0.70), Prevotella (r=0.64), and Ureaplasma (r=0.50). Linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis identified Tepidimonas and Flavobacterium as bacteria that distinguished the urinary environment for both mixed urinary incontinence and controls as these bacteria were absent in the vagina (Tepidimonas effect size 2.38, P<.001, Flavobacterium effect size 2.15, P<.001). Although Lactobacillus was the most abundant bacteria in both urine and vagina, it was more abundant in the vagina (linear discriminant analysis effect size effect size 2.72, P<.001)., Conclusion: Significant associations between vaginal and urinary microbiomes were demonstrated, with Lactobacillus being predominant in both urine and vagina. Abundance of other bacteria also correlated highly between the vagina and urine. This inter-relatedness has implications for studying manipulation of the urogenital microbiome in treating conditions such as urgency urinary incontinence and urinary tract infections., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The aim of this article is to summarize the relevant findings that inform the 2017 International Consultation on Incontinence pathway for surgical treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP)., Methods: We conducted an evidence-based review of the English-language peer-reviewed literature relating to POP surgery published prior to December 2016. Level 1 evidence (randomized controlled trials [RCTs] or systematic reviews of RCTs) was preferred; however, level 2 (poor-quality RCT, prospective cohort studies) or 3 evidence (case series or retrospective studies) has been included if level 1 data were lacking. The committee evaluated the literature and made recommendations based on the Oxford grading system summarized as follows: grade A recommendation usually depends on consistent level 1 evidence; grade B recommendation usually depends on consistent level 2 and/or 3 studies, or "majority evidence" from RCTs; grade C recommendation usually depends on level 3 studies or "majority evidence" from level 2/3 studies or Delphi-processed expert opinion; grade D, "no recommendation possible," would be used where the evidence is inadequate or conflicting., Results: The recommendations from each chapter of the review are presented and serve to inform an evidence-based pathway for the surgical treatment of prolapse. A Web-based interactive application of the pathway is presented., Conclusions: The 2017 International Consultation on Incontinence pathway on surgery for POP is designed as an adjunct to transparent consultation and consent relating to POP surgery. The final decision regarding surgical intervention can be made only after a shared decision-making process between the patient and the clinician that will evaluate a variety of individual factors that cannot be assessed in the pathway.