Determining the utility of recalled lower urinary tract symptoms

Objectives: To assess the utility of recalled American Urological Association Symptom Index (AUA-SI) scores 6 months after an initial outpatient clinic visit. The AUA-SI is a validated questionnaire used to assess a patient's lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) over a 4-week period. However, patient recall of their LUTS at greater time points is currently unknown. Methods: Between May 2007 and August 2008, 98 patients completed the AUA-SI questionnaire at their initial visit ("Past"). At 6-month follow-up, patients recalled their AUA-SI and quality of life (QoL) scores ("Recall"). As a reference, patients also reported their current symptom scores ("Present"). Descriptive statistics, correlations, regression models, and kappa statistics were performed to assess the associations between the "Past" and "Recall" symptom scores as either categorical (mild, moderate, severe) or continuous (0-35 points) variables. Similar analyses were performed for QoL scores. Results: Analyses indicated significant correlations between the "Recall" and "Past" AUA-SI and QoL scores. Although 70% of patients remained in the same categorical groupings, 62% of patients had clinically significant differences (< 3 points) between "Recall" and "Past" scores. Approximately, 80% of patients recalled their QoL score accurately (≤ 1 point). Conclusions: In an outpatient setting, only approximately one-third of patients can accurately recall AUA-SI scores as a continuous variable from 6 months prior. However, when used as a categorical variable, "Recall" scores may provide some insight into a patient's "Past" urinary symptoms. Future validation in other populations is required.