Patient expectations did not predict outcome of drug and behavioral treatment of urgency urinary incontinence

Objectives: This study aimed to determine whether expectations of treatment outcomes in women participating in a drug and behavioral treatment trial for urge urinary incontinence are related to patient factors, demographics, health-related locus of control, and treatment outcomes. Methods: Baseline assessments included expectations (improvement in bladder condition, time to improvement in bladder condition, and duration of improvement) and theMedical Health Locus of Control (MHLC) scale. Outcomes were measured by the Patient Global Impression of Improvement scale (PGI-I) at the end of active treatment (10 weeks) and 8 months after trial start. Results: At baseline among 173 subjects, 114 (66%) believed their incontinence would get "very much better," 94 (55%) expected improvement by 1 month, and 111 (66%) expected improvement would last for the rest of their lives. There were no significant associations between baseline expectations or MHLC with the Patient Global Impression of Improvement scale at 10 weeks or 8 months. Conclusions: Expectations of treatment outcome and MHLC did not predict eventual patient-reported treatment outcome in this sample of women with urge-predominant urinary incontinence participating in a trial of drug and behavioral therapy.