Reliability of Thai-Version Overactive Bladder Symptom
Scores (OABSS) Questionnaire and the Correlations of
OABSS with Voiding Diary, International Prostate
Symptom Score (IPSS), and Patient Perception of
Bladder Condition (PPBC) Questionnaires
Suvit Bunyavejchevin MD, MHS*
Affiliation :
* Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery Division, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand
Background : Overactive bladder (OAB) is defined by subjective symptoms such as urgency, frequency, and urge incontinence,
rather than objective measures. Using questionnaires like OABSS can help in diagnosis and evaluation of patients’ symptoms
for further assessment.
Objective : To evaluate test-retest reliability of OABSS in 2-week interval and to evaluate the correlation of OABSS with
voiding diary, IPSS, and PPBC.
Material and Method: Between August 2009 and January 2011, 56 Thai women aged more than 18 years, attending
urogynecology clinic at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital were recruited in the study. They were diagnosed as having
the overactive bladder with these criteria, symptoms of urinary frequency, urgency with or without urge incontinence, for
more than three months, and at least one episode of urgency with or without incontinence in last three days. After giving
the written informed consents, the patients were instructed to complete the voiding diary before starting the study and at
the second visit (two weeks apart). The Thai version of self-answered questionnaires (OABSS, IPSS, and PBC) were also
given at 0- and 2-week visit. The questionnaires were translated by one linguist from the Language Institute, Chulalongkorn
University, Thailand, and translated back by another linguist to English. The content and language validity were checked
by one urogynecologist at our department. The study was conducted after the protocol was approval by the Institutional
Review Board (IRB).
Results : The test-retest reliabilities (intraclass correlation) of the OABSS, PPBC, and IPSS total score were 0.88, 0.44, and
0.85. The overall Cronbach’s alpha of OABSS was 0.31 and 0.41 at 0- and 2-week respectively.
Conclusion : Thai version of OABSS was reliable, valid, and related to the abnormal voiding symptoms. Further use of Thai
version OABSS questionnaire was advocated for both clinical study and clinical practice in Thai women with OAB.
Keywords : Thai version, OABSS, IPSS, PPBC
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