Review of the American Urological Association (aua) Annual Meeting, 4-8 May 2013, San Diego, Usa

865: CONSEQUENCES OF INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS/BLADDER PAIN SYNDROME SYMPTOMS ON WOMEN’S WORK PARTICIPATION AND INCOME: RESULTS FROM A NATIONAL HOUSEHOLD SAMPLE. Megan K. Beckett; Sandra H. Berry; Marc N. Elliott; J. Quentin Clemens The background to this study was that few studies examine economic consequences of IC/BPS and existing studies have examined women with established diagnoses of IC/BPS, as opposed to those with IC/BPS symptoms. The speaker emphasised that this distinction is important because there is often a long delay in diagnosis of IC/BPS and because due to the lack of objective diagnostic criteria, there is likely to be significant variability between caregivers in assigning a diagnosis of IC/BPS. The purpose of this research was to utilise data from a community sample of women with IC/BPS symptoms to describe differences in work participation and income in relation to measures of bladder symptoms impact and comorbidities and to estimate gains to women’s economic outcomes that might be achieved with improved management of pain and symptoms. The RAND Interstitial Cystitis Epidemiology (RICE) Study telephoned 146,231 U.S. households to identify women with symptoms suggestive of IC/BPS. The survey identified 2767 community women age <65 with IC/BPS symptoms. In a telephone interview they assessed demographics (age, race/ethnicity, education, marital status), IC/BPS symptom severity and impact (IC Symptom Index, IC Problem Index, Bladder Symptom Impact questionnaire [BSI-6]), depressive symptomology (Patient Health Questionnaire), 12 self-reported medical co-morbidities, work participation, and income. Multivariate regressions predicted five current work outcomes (current employment, kept from working by pelvic pain, missed work days, days worked with symptoms, and real income change since symptom onset). A total of 42% of women did not work, 10% of them said that this was because of pain or bladder symptoms. On average, each worker missed 6 days of work/year and worked 37% of workdays with