1. How Do Patients Understand Questions about Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms? A Qualitative Study of Problems in Completing Urological Questionnaires
- Author
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Florine W. M. Schlatmann, Michael R. van Balken, Andrea F. de Winter, Igle-Jan de Jong, Carel J. M. Jansen, and Public Health Research (PHR)
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,Surveys and Questionnaires ,Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms/diagnosis ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Prostate ,lower urinary tract symptoms questionnaires ,health literacy ,working-aloud method ,Humans ,Middle Aged ,Qualitative Research ,Health Literacy - Abstract
Lower urinary tract symptoms are common complaints in ageing people. For a urological evaluation of such complaints in men, the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) is used worldwide. Previous quantitative studies have revealed serious problems in completing this questionnaire. In order to gain insight into the nature and causes of these problems, we conducted a qualitative study. Not only the purely verbal IPSS was studied but also two alternatives, including pictograms: the Visual Prostate Symptom Score (VPSS) and the Score Visuel Prostatique en Image (SVPI). Men aged 40 years and over with an inadequate level of health literacy (IHL; n = 18) or an adequate level of health literacy (AHL; n = 47) participated. Each participant filled out one of the three questionnaires while thinking aloud. The analysis of their utterances revealed problems in both health literacy groups with form-filling tasks and subtasks for all three questionnaires. Most noticeable were the problems with the IPSS; the terminology and layout of this form led to difficulties. In the VPSS and SVPI, the pictograms sometimes raised problems. As in previous research on form-filling behavior, an overestimation by form designers of form fillers’ knowledge and skills seems to be an important explanation for the problems observed.
- Published
- 2022
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