Healthcare utilization among women who undergo surgery for stress urinary incontinence

• Published in: International Urogynecology Journal Vol. 15; no. 3; pp. 154 - 159
• Main Authors: Kinchen, Kraig S, Long, Stacey, Orsini, Lucinda, Crown, William, Bump, Richard C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Springer Nature B.V 01.06.2004
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Diagnosis-Related Groups; Drug Therapy - utilization; Female; Health Services - utilization; Humans; Insurance Claim Review; Length of Stay; Middle Aged; Retrospective Studies; Surgery; Urinary incontinence; Urinary Incontinence, Stress - surgery; Urologic Surgical Procedures - adverse effects; Urologic Surgical Procedures - statistics & numerical data
• ISSN: 0937-3462; 1433-3023
• DOI: 10.1007/s00192-004-1133-0

This study examined patterns of care for women undergoing surgery for stress urinary incontinence (SUI). A retrospective analysis of administrative claims data was performed and we identified 12520 women with a diagnosis of SUI and a subset of 3735 women with a surgical procedure code for SUI. For the main types of surgeries, we examined length of stay, pharmaceutical use, complications, and healthcare utilization related to incontinence greater than 6 months after surgery. Approximately 30% of women with a coded SUI diagnosis underwent surgery. Of the initial procedures, 40% were retropubic suspensions and 25% were sling procedures. Almost 4% of women underwent an additional surgery, and 14.1% had claims related to incontinence 6 or more months after the initial procedure. We examined medical care and pharmaceutical use for women undergoing continence surgery. This information may be important to patients and physicians discussing treatment options.