Living with an overactive bladder: what guides patients’ choices?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Living with an overactive bladder: What guides people’s treatment choices? A qualitative study.
IRAS ID
303682
Contact name
Emma Hargreaves
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 27 days
Research summary
Overactive bladder (OAB) is defined as urinary urgency, frequency of voiding both during the day and at night (nocturia). These symptoms can also be accompanied by urinary incontinence. It is a common complaint affecting approximately 12% of the population and is costly to treat, estimated at $82.6 billion in 2020 in the USA.
Interventions for OAB symptoms have been the subject of thousands of quantitative studies, with research teams seeking effective and palatable treatments. Less commonly heard is the patient's voice. Studies detailing the lived experience of OAB, and the effect it has on people's ability to function in society is territory less frequently explored. It is important to understand the challenges faced by people with OAB, what is important to them in managing symptoms and what guides their treatment choices. This is particularly relevant as adherence levels with some treatments, particularly medication, can be low. Invasive treatment strategies including injections of Botox into the bladder wall or implantation of sacral nerve stimulators are costly and have known side effects. Acupuncture has been suggested as alternative treatment for OAB and there are some large-scale studies that indicate it may have a role to play, although currently it is not a universally practised treatment strategy.
This study will explore people’s experience of OAB symptoms, the reasoning underpinning treatment choices and their experience of having acupuncture for OAB.
Semi-structured interviews will be undertaken face to face, by telephone or using remote meeting software and analysed to identify similarities and differences in experiences and identify themes. These themes will be used to describe the lived experience of OAB and the reasons underpinning treatment choices. These insights will be valuable to health service managers, clinicians and researchers when developing treatment pathways and novel treatment interventions.REC name
North West - Greater Manchester West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/NW/0133
Date of REC Opinion
16 May 2022
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion