Temml and his associates from Vienna and Baden report that overall prevalence of IC was 306/100,000 women. Of note, the prevalence dropped from 464/100,000 in the group aged 40-59 years to 369/100,00 in the older group. This type of data may give clues to natural history in the absence of long-term longitudinal studies, and tends to indicate that there is at least a partial remission rate in terms of symptom severity over time in a large proportion of patients.

The figures in the Temml study are not dissimilar from other prevalence studies in the United States, Finland, and Taiwan when using similar criteria for diagnosis. Whether use of the O'Leary-Sant for epidemiologic studies tends to overestimate the numbers because of overlap with idiopathic detrusor overactivity is not clear, but should be considered when looking at the numbers.

In a multivariate analysis two parameters remained statistically significant correlates for IC symptoms, namely, bowel disorders and psychological stress. Whether stress is a cause or effect of IC is not determined. Another interesting finding of this report is that no correlation could be identified between dietary factors (spicy food, alcohol, caffeine) and prevalence or severity of IC symptom scores.

The authors point out that their study was questionnaire-based, and no individual underwent a thorough urologic evaluation. Also, the study population was not generated by standard epidemiologic sampling and that might introduce a bias.

Temml C, Wehrberger C, Riedl C, Ponholzer A, Marszalek M, Madersbacher S, Cruz F

European Urology Articles in Press

Written by Philip M. Hanno, MD, a Contributing Editor with UroToday.

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