Outcome measures for assessing efficacy of incontinence procedures

Standard treatment for stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women has evolved over the last few decades. The development of effective surgical modalities and the recent explosion in the availability of minimally invasive treatment options have altered the playing field, and have provided a wider range of treatment options for women with SUI. With these alternatives come the opportunity and the responsibility to assess how successful these treatments are. The areaof outcome assessment itself has evolved over the last several years, becoming more structured in the approach to defining treatment success. This process is particularly important for treatments aimed at SUI, where an improvement in the quality of life is the ultimate goal, and for which success can be defined in a number of different ways. Indeed, it may be impossible to identify a single parameter that can be used to define success in every patient undergoing treatment for SUI. This chapter explores current methods to analyze outcome of SUI treatment.