The comparison of pain characteristics of women with and without overactive bladder

The aim of this study was to evaluate the pain and thr quality of life of women who were diagnosed with overactive bladder (OAB) and to determine whether they differ from healthy controls. The study included 28 women over 18 years of age who were diagnosed with OAB in accordance with the definition of International Continence Society and 28 healthy women over 18 years of age who agreed to participate in the study. The participating women were evaluated by The Short Form of the McGill Pain Questionnaire for pain intensity and pain quality; Self-Leeds Assessment of Neuropathic Symptoms and Signs for the presence of neuropathic pain and Algometer for the pain threshold level. Algometric measurements were made from 18 points in the body and 5 different anatomical locations on the abdominal line. Overactive Bladder Questionnaire, Incontinence Impact Questionnaire and Urogenital Distress Inventory were used to evaluate OAB symptoms and lower urinary tract symptoms of women included in the study, while Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) questionnaire was used to determine quality of life and general health status. It was found that women with OAB had lower scores in respect to pain threshold measurements with algometer than healthy women. When the women with OAB were evaluated by Mcgill pain questionnaire and symptom severity questionnaires of lower urinary tract symptoms, there was a positive correlation between OAB symptom severity and pain intensity (p<0,05). The comparison of health-related quality of life between the participating female subjects in respect to NHP showed a statistically significant difference in pain, sleep, social isolation, physical activity, energy and in the total scores of part 1 and part 2. The evaluation of the emotional reactions scores revealed no significant difference between the groups (p = 0.064). In conclusion, it was found that OAB results in a decrease in the quality of life and pain threshold of women and an increase in both sensory and affective qualities of pain. This result, independent of the effect of OAB on emotional state, confirms the hypotesis that central sensitization predisposes to pain syndromes in the pathophysiology of OAB. In addition, it was observed that the severity of pain increased in parallel with the severity of symptoms in these patients. According to these results, it can be emphasized that patients with OAB may be predisposed to pain syndromes as well as lower urinary tract symptoms and that clinicians should take this into consideration during the evaluation of patients. Keywords: Overactive bladder (OAB), pain threshold, quality of life, symtom severity, pain severity