Determining the minimal important differences in the International Prostate Symptom Score and Overactive Bladder Questionnaire: results from an observational cohort study in Dutch primary care

What is it about?

Many men visit their physician for their lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). For the evaluation of treatments various questionnaires are available. Most often used are the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and Overactive Bladder Questionnaire (OAB-q). 
In this study we tested which change of scores correlated with subjective improvements reported by men with LUTS who were treated with an alpha-blocker in primary care. 
We found that the minimally important change for the IPSS score was considerably higher than found in an earlier study. We discuss the possible explanations for these differences. This is the first study to describe the minimal important difference for the OAB-q-short form.

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