Development and validation of the Ureteral Discomfort Test (UDT). An effective, simple and easy tool for the evaluation of the discomfort related to ureteral stent

Abstract

Objective

Develop and validate a questionnaire to evaluate the discomfort related to ureteral stent that is simple, hetero-self-administered

Material & Methods

A pilot instrument based on the ussq was designed, subsequently structured using the Delphi method and applied to 72 patients with ureteral stent after semirrigid ureteroscopy. For its validation, we use Cronbach's alpha and Pearson's coefficient.

Results

The udt designed by Likert scale model, with 6 dimensions: 1-urinary symptoms, 2-pain, 3-daily life, 4-sex life, 5-medical care / use of analgesics and 6-quality of life 6, 2, 1, 1, 2, 1 items respectively. The tool defines greater discomfort in the patient as the score increases by dimension and total score; The score increases according to the severity of the symptoms, with a max-score of 61 points. Validation studies made the questionnaire internally consistent (Cronbach 0.820) with good reliability (Pearson 0.850). The correlation of urinary symptoms (r = 0.929, p = 0.00), pain (r = 0.880, p = 0.00), daily life (r = 0.625, p = 0.00), quality of life (r = 0.768, p = 0.00) of both questionnaires was statistically significant. udt  application time (m = 1.8min SD = 0.76) vs ussq (m = 8.3min SD = 0.76)  

Limitants

Small sample that requires more patients to demonstrate the effectiveness of the questionnaire 

Value

This questionnaire represents an easy tool to evaluate in a simply way the ureteral stent discomfort.

Conclusions

The udt  is a tool of simple and rapid application, comparable to the USSQ, for the evaluation of symptoms related to the ureteral stent.