The Effect of a Physician Consultation on Patient Reported Outcomes in Urogynecology

Importance It has not yet been determined whether there is an effect of the initial urogynecologic consultation and resultant management plan on the patient’s bother from her pelvic floor condition. Objective The aim of the study was to see whether patient-reported outcomes of bother were different before and after consultation with a specialist. Study Design Fifty patients completed both preconsultation and postconsultation Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory (PFDI-20) and Pelvic Floor Impact Questionnaire (PFIQ-7). Patients were eligible if they were naive to urogynecology care and had never had treatment for the chief complaint in the past. They were not eligible if they received treatment at their consultation visits. A paired t test was used for comparison. A linear model determined whether baseline PFDI-20 and PFIQ-7 scores as explanatory variables had an effect on the pre-post delta as outcome variable. Results There was no statistically significant difference between PFDI-20 scores before (mean, 86.5) and after (mean, 83.1) consultation. There was additionally no difference between PFIQ-7 scores before (mean, 61.1) and after (mean, 65.4) consultation. There was, however, a greater degree of change in scores if the patient presented with little bother versus large bother at the initial consultation. Conclusions For the new urogynecologic patients, those with lower baseline bother showed higher change (improvement) in scores after the consultation.