SUFU 2021: Association of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Loop Diuretic Use With Decreased Diuretic Adherence

(UroToday.com) This was an interesting study as it has implications in clinical practice. The aim was to evaluate the correlation of health-related quality of life from lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) among patients on diuretic therapy with adherence to the diuretic regimen.


Participants taking one or more diuretic medications were recruited via ResearchMatch.org. The Overactive Bladder Questionnaire-Short Form (OAB-q SF HRQL), was used to assess urinary symptoms. Participants were asked if they skip diuretic doses “never,” “sometimes,” “often,” or “very often” due to urinary symptoms and a score of 0 to 3 was assigned to create a continuous adherence variable. Age, BMI, smoking status, education, and diuretic indication were also collected. Subgroup analyses of participants taking a loop diuretic and patients who experience stress urinary incontinence were also performed. 4,029 surveys were sent, 285 were returned (7.1% response rate), and 280 were included in the study. Fifty-four participants admitted to skipping diuretic doses due to urinary symptoms. Lower quality of life scores was significantly associated with poorer adherence scores among all participants. This trend was increased among subsets of patients taking a loop diuretic.

The authors concluded that worsening LUTS may be associated with poorer diuretic adherence (esp loop diuretic) and those who suffer from SUI. Assessment of urinary symptom severity and adherence to diuretic administration should be assessed at the time of visit.

Presented by: Matthew Miller, Brent Reed, Rena Malik, The University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, Baltimore, MD, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Baltimore, MD

Written by: Diane K. Newman, DNP, CRNP, FAAN, BCB-PMD, Nurse Practioner and Co-Director, Penn Center for Continence and Pelvic Health Adjunct Professor of Urology in Surgery during the 2021 Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction (SUFU) Winter Meeting