Objective: To prospectively evaluate the effects of TVT on the quality of life of patients with urinary incontinence by using 3 different questionnaires.
Patients and methods: Fifty one patients with a mean age of 57.1 years (range: 34 to 82) were treated by TVT for urinary incontinence combined with laparoscopic sacral colpopexy for associated cystocele in 12 cases. Fifty of these patients suffered from stress urinary incontinence and one presented mixed urinary incontinence. These patients completed 2 quality of life questionnaires and a urinary symptom score: Ditrovie and Contilife scale and the MHU scale for measurement of urinary handicap before and 3 months after TVT. Statistical analysis was based on Student's test.
Results: The mean scores obtained with the MHU scale were 6.74 (range: 2-16) preoperatively and 1.4 (range: 0-7) postoperatively. The mean score obtained with the Ditrovie scale was 3.1 (range: 2-4) preoperatively and 1.32 (range: 1-3) postoperatively. The mean score obtained with the Contilife scale was 82.1 (range: 51-119) preoperatively and 38.8 (range: 30-15) postoperatively. The difference was statistically significant (p<0.05) for the MHU and Contilife scales, but not for the Ditrovie scale.
Conclusion: TVT allows a marked improvement of the quality of life of patients with urinary incontinence. The MHU and Contilife questionnaires can be used to objectively quantify the improvement of quality of life after TVT and, due to their marked and reproducible variation, they can also be used to assess the degree of improvement and the stability of the results over time.