Quality of Life in Neurourology Patients

Abstract

Quality of life (QOL) is a relatively new and important concept in medicine. It is relevant to neurourologists because of the many interventions that are offered to patients to try and improve their QOL. Several new patient-reported outcome measures have been published that are applicable to neurourology patients; these provide novel valid and reliable ways to measure bladder-related QOL. There continues to be a need for high-quality studies that assess bladder-related QOL before and after interventions in different neurourology populations, and studies that elucidate changes in QOL during the course of neurologic diseases. PATIENT SUMMARY: It is important to understand how a person's life is affected by bladder changes that can accompany neurologic diseases. There are several new questionnaires that can be used to help. More research is needed to evaluate how treatments in neurourology can improve a person's quality of life.

Keywords: Neurogenic bladder; Quality of life.