Compliance to Individualized Recommendations Based on an Evidence-Based Algorithm for Behavioral Management of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms.
Andrew Gammie
PMID 33290016WHAT IT FOUND
Most patients followed personalized fluid advice: 13 of 16 removed caffeine and alcohol, 9 of 12 reduced evening drinks, and 6 of 6 increased fluids.
This small feasibility study did not test symptom improvement.
Key findings
01Thirteen of sixteen patients advised to remove caffeine and alcohol were recorded as complying.
02Nine of twelve patients advised to reduce evening drinks complied, lowering intake after 6 pm by a mean of 240 mL.
03All six patients advised to increase fluid intake complied, raising daily intake by a mean of 520 mL.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a small feasibility study of 22 patients, and the authors used descriptive rather than inferential analyses. It was not designed to measure changes in symptoms, and the authors state the findings do not demonstrate efficacy. Patients with urinary tract infection, diabetes, heart disease, or non-urological medications were excluded, so it says nothing about those common causes of symptoms. All participants were referred to a tertiary urology clinic, so results may not apply to patients seen in primary care. Compliance with bladder or habit training and afternoon leg raising could not be judged from the diaries. Symptom relief was reported by 12 of 22 patients, but the study did not test symptom change as its main aim.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read relief in 12 of 22 patients as proof that fluid advice works. The study was designed to measure compliance, not symptom change, and it did not test efficacy.