A mobile app in the Netherlands has effectively improved urinary incontinence in women

Internet- and mobile app based on the female urinary incontinence treatment program has been encouraging
after one year.

Urinary incontinence (UI) affects one in three women, leading to a reduced
quality of life.
Many women face various obstacles when seeking treatment, resulting in unsatisfactory results
.
Previous studies have shown that UI treatment options based on mobile applications (hereinafter referred to as apps) can improve patient conditions and reduce medical costs
.
Therefore, Dutch researchers have developed an app to guide women with stressful, urge and mixed UI to targeted pelvic floor muscle and bladder training
.
This study evaluated the long-term effectiveness
of app-based treatment regimens compared to usual care in primary care.

This is a pragmatic, randomised controlled and cost-effective trial
.
The researchers recruited 262 female patients with stressful, urgent, and mixed UI with ≥ episodes twice a week in the primary care system in the Netherlands from 2015 to 2018, and the patients were randomly assigned to the intervention group (app treatment group) and control group (usual care group), with 89 (68%) and 83 (63%) receiving one-year follow-up
, respectively.
The URinControl app visited by the intervention group contained conservative management of the UI and motivational aids (such as reminders), and treatment planning in the usual care group was carried out
according to the UI guidelines of the Dutch general practitioner.
Efficacy was assessed by the Brief International Urinary Incontinence Questionnaire (ICIQ-UI-SF) and the International Urinary Incontinence Advisory Committee-Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Quality of Life Questionnaire (ICIQ-LUTSqol), and linear regression analysis
was performed on the basis of intention-to-treat treatment.

After 12 months, patients in both groups had a reduction in all questionnaire scores (Table 1).

In terms of UI severity, ICIQ-UI-SF scores improved in the app treatment group (-2.
17±2.
81) and the usual treatment group (-3.
43±3.
6).
In terms of quality of life, ICIQ-LUTSqol scores improved in both the APP treatment group (-4.
66±5.
1) and the usual treatment group (-4.
31±5.
7
).
There was no significant difference in symptom scores between the two groups (Table 2).

Table 1 Comparison of questionnaire scores at baseline and 12-month follow-up between APP treatment group vs usual care group 

Note: The higher the ICIQ-UI-SF score, the more severe the UI symptoms; The higher the ICIQ-LUTSqol score, the greater the impact of UI on quality of life

Table 2 Changes in questionnaire scores between the two groups from baseline to 12 months, including adjusted differences between groups

App-based UI therapy is a viable alternative to
conventional UI therapy in terms of efficacy after 1 year.