How older men live with stress urinary incontinence: Patient experience and navigation to treatment.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the context in which older men navigate treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) following prostate surgery by characterizing lived experience of men with symptomatic SUI. SUBJECTS/PATIENTS AND METHODS: Mixed method study using surveys and semistructured interviews to examine a cohort of men who underwent evaluation for treatment of postprostatectomy SUI. RESULTS: Thirty-six men were interviewed after consultation for SUI and 31 had complete quantitative clinical data. Twenty-six underwent surgery and 10 chose no surgical intervention. In qualitative interviews, respondents experienced substantial decline in quality of life due to incontinence citing concerns associated with use of pads and worrying about incontinence. Most patients reported "workarounds"-efforts to mitigate or manage incontinence including Kegels, physical therapy, and garments. Participants also reported lifestyle changes including less strenuous physical activity, less sexual activity, and/or fewer social gatherings. Patients then described a "breaking point" where incontinence workarounds were no longer sufficient. After seeking evaluation, men described challenges in exploring treatment for SUI, including access to care and provider knowledge of treatment options. CONCLUSION: In a novel study of patients living with SUI a predictable lived experience was observed that culminated in a desire for change or "breaking point." In all men, this led to treatment-seeking behaviors and for many it led to SUI intervention. Despite effective treatments, patients continue to meet barriers gaining access to SUI evaluation and treatment.

The relationship between frailty, incontinence severity, and treatment decisions for men with post-prostatectomy stress urinary incontinence: a mixed methods analysis.

Background: Frailty is common among urology patients in general as well as among men seeking evaluation for stress urinary incontinence (SUI), with 6.1% of men undergoing artificial urinary sphincter placement considered frail. It is unclear if and how patient views on frailty and incontinence severity impact decision-making with regards to SUI treatment. Methods: We undertook a mixed methods analysis to evaluate the intersection of frailty, incontinence severity, and treatment decision-making is presented. To do so, we utilized a previously published cohort of men undergoing evaluation for SUI at the University of California, San Francisco between 2015 and 2020, selecting those who had evaluation with timed up and go test (TUGT), objective measures of incontinence, and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). A subset of these participants had additionally undergone semi-structured interviews, and these interviews were re-examined to thematically code them with a focus on the impact of frailty and incontinence severity on SUI treatment decision-making. Results: Among the original cohort of 130 patients, 72 had an objective measure of frailty and were included in our analysis; 18 of these individuals had corresponding qualitative interviews. Common themes identified included (I) impact of incontinence severity on decision-making; (II) the interaction between frailty and incontinence; (III) the impact of comorbidity on treatment decision-making; and (IV) age as a construct of frailty and impact on surgical choice and/or recovery. Direct quotations regarding each theme provides insight into patients' views and drivers of SUI treatment decision-making. Conclusions: The impact of frailty on treatment decision-making for patients with SUI is complex. This mixed methods study highlights the variety of patient views on frailty with regards to surgical intervention for male SUI. Urologists should make a concerted effort to personalize patient counseling for SUI management and take time to understand each patient's perspective in order to individualize SUI treatment decision-making. More research is needed to help identify factors that influence decision-making for frail male patients with SUI.

Patient decision-making for surgical treatment of post-prostatectomy stress urinary incontinence: a mixed-methods exploratory pilot study.

Background: Male stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a known complication following surgical intervention on the prostate, particularly following surgery for prostate cancer. Effective surgical treatments for SUI include artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) and male urethral sling. Prior data suggest that men may forego available treatment despite bothersome symptoms. The objective was to explore how men who underwent surgical correction for post-prostatectomy SUI navigated SUI treatment decisions. Methods: Mixed method study was employed. Semi-structured interviews, participant surveys and objective clinical assessment of SUI were performed among a group of men living with incontinence after prostate cancer surgery who underwent surgery for SUI at the University of California in 2017. Results: Eleven men were interviewed after consultation for SUI and all had complete quantitative clinical data. Surgery for SUI included AUS (n=8) and sling (n=3). There was a decrease in pads per day from 3.2 to 0.9 and no major complications. Most patients found that the impact on activities and their treating urologist were of great importance. Sexual and relationships played a variable role with some participants ranking these as "great deal of influence" and others "little or no influence". Participants who underwent AUS were more likely to cite a higher importance on "being very dry" in choosing that surgery while sling patients had more variable ranking of important factors. Participants found a variety of inputs helpful in hearing information about SUI treatment options. Conclusions: Among a group of 11 men who underwent surgical correction for post-prostatectomy SUI, there were identifiable themes on how men make decisions, evaluate quality of life (QoL) changes and approach treatment options. Men value more than being dry with measures of individual success that can include sexual and relationship health. Furthermore the role of the Urologist remains crucial as patients relied heavily on input and discussion with their Urologist to assist in treatment decisions. These findings can be used to inform future studies of the experience of men with SUI.

Patient-identified Treatment Attributes Among Older Men With Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Qualitative Look at What Matters to Patients Making Treatment Decisions.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate which treatment attributes matter to patients with stress urinary incontinence (SUI), why and how they matter, and the context in which patients consider treatment attributes. Nearly a quarter of older men have decisional regret following SUI treatment. Knowledge of what matters to patients when making SUI treatment decisions is necessary to improve goal-concordant care. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 36 men ≥65 years of age with SUI. Semi-structured interviews were conducted by telephone and transcribed. Four researchers (L.H., N.S., E.A., C.B.) coded the transcripts using both deductive and inductive codes to identify and describe treatment attributes. RESULTS: We identified 5 patient-derived treatment attributes of interest among older men with SUI who have faced treatment decisions: (1) dryness, (2) simplicity, (3) potential need for future intervention, (4) treatment regret/satisfaction, and (5) surgical avoidance. These themes reliably emerged in our patient-centered interviews from within various contexts, including prior negative healthcare experiences, the impact of incontinence on daily and quality of life, and the mental health burden of incontinence, among others. CONCLUSION: Men with SUI weigh a variety of treatment attributes in addition to dryness, a traditional clinical endpoint, and do so within the context of their individual experience. These additional attributes, such as simplicity, may run counter to the goal of dryness. This suggests that traditional clinical endpoints alone are not adequate for counseling patients. Contextualized patient-identified treatment attributes should be used to create decision-support materials to promote goal-concordant SUI treatment.

CASE-based and Guidelines-based Lectures are the Most Preferred Form of Online Webinar Education: Results from the Urology Collaborative Online Video Didactics Series (COViD).

Objective To evaluate the most preferred style of online didactic lectures. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on surgical resident education, instigating a major shift towards online webinar didactics as a major of resident teaching. We hypothesize that a case-based format of online didactics are the most preferred format for this style of lecture. Study Design We analyzed viewer evaluations following 82 online hour-long lectures in the Urology Collaborative Online Video Didactics Lecture Series. We categorized each lecture as case-based, guidelines-based, practice updates, or surgical technique-based and assessed viewer responses to survey questions regarding subject area relevance, lecturer knowledgeability, lecturer effectiveness, and usefulness to learning. We performed logistic regression to control for viewer level, instructor level, and lecture topic, and using surgical technique-based lectures as the baseline variable. Results 2176 evaluations were analyzed. Case-based, guidelines-based and practice updates were all scored significantly higher than surgical technique for subject area relevance. Case-based and guideline-based lectures scored significantly higher for usefulness to learning. Case-based lectures scored significantly higher for lecturer effectiveness. There was no significant difference in scoring between any lecture style when rated on lecturer knowledgeability. Conclusion When preparing online webinar based didactics for surgical resident education, case-based lecturers appear to be the most preferred and well received lecture style, followed closely by guidelines-based lectures. Practice updates and surgical technique-based lectures are less preferred formats for this teaching modality.

Multi-Institutional Collaborative Resident Education in the Era of COVID-19.

INTRODUCTION: The 2019-2020 coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on all aspects of health care. Decrease in clinical and operative volume and limitations for conferences has drastically decreased educational opportunities for resident trainees. We describe the formation and initial success of the Collaborative Online Video Didactics lecture series, a multi-institutional online video didactics collaboration. METHODS: Zoom data extraction and postlecture evaluation surveys were used to collect data on the impact of the pandemic on local educational activities as well as feedback about the lecture series. Lectures are being given by faculty from 35 institutions. The twice daily, hour-long webinar averages more than 470 live viewers per session with an average of 33.5 questions per session and has over 7,000 YouTube views of the recordings after the first 2 weeks. RESULTS: Viewers reported significant decreases in outpatient (75.2%), inpatient (64.9%) and operating room (77.7%) volumes at local programs, and only half (52.7%) of the survey responders indicated an increase in didactics locally. The lectures have been well-received, with over 90% of respondents giving the lecturers and series above average or excellent ratings. A significant majority of responders indicated that the lecture series has allowed for ongoing education opportunities during the pandemic (95.0%), helped to access faculty experts from other institutions (92.3%) and provided a sense of community connectedness during this period of social isolation (81.7%). CONCLUSIONS: We strongly encourage other institutions and trainees to participate in the didactic series and hope that this series can continue to evolve and be of benefit beyond the pandemic.