Patient-Reported Goals of Women With Urinary Incontinence in Primary Care.
Urogynecology (Phila) 2026 Jun 01. [Online ahead of print]

Abstract

IMPORTANCE

Understanding women's treatment goals when seeking care for urinary incontinence (UI) is essential to delivering patient-centered care. However, most studies describing patient-reported goals have been limited to specialty settings, leaving a gap in knowledge about women's goals in primary care.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this study were to characterize self-reported treatment goals among women with UI receiving care in primary care settings and to examine differences in patient characteristics by goal type.

STUDY DESIGN

This mixed-methods cross-sectional secondary analysis used data from the "Identify, Teach, and Treat (IT2): Automating Clinical Decision Pathways for the Care of Women" project. IT2 integrated automated UI screening and a digital educational tool into routine primary care visits. Women aged 18 years and older who screened positive for UI and desired more information between January 2023 and December 2024 provided free-text responses to the question, "What are your treatment goals for urinary incontinence?" Responses were categorized into goal domains using qualitative descriptive analysis, followed by quantitative comparison of patient characteristics across goal categories.

RESULTS

Among 2,986 women who screened positive for UI, 458 (15.3%) reported treatment goals. Symptom relief (46.1%) and information seeking (33.6%) were most common, followed by lifestyle (4.6%) and emotional goals (0.6%); 15.1% reported overlapping goals. Women prioritizing symptom relief were older (mean: 58.7 y vs 54.6 y) and had higher International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire (ICIQ) scores, whereas those emphasizing information seeking preferred to avoid procedural interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

Women's treatment goals for UI in primary care are diverse, multidimensional, and patient-specific. Recognizing this granularity can improve how clinicians and researchers deliver patient-centered care.

Authors+Show Affiliations

Mou TDivision of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tufts Medical Center and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA.
Brown TDivision of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
Lee JYDivision of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
Persell SDDivision of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL. Center for Primary Care Innovation, Institute for Public Health and Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
Kenton KSection of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
Collins SSection of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article

Language

eng

PubMed ID

42240121