Overactive bladder: the importance of tailoring treatment to the individual patient

Abstract

Introduction:

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a prevalent and persistent condition that is often under-diagnosed and under-treated, and which frequently requires tailored treatment for successful management.

Methods:

This consensus opinion-based review summarizes the discussions of a group of experts in the field of OAB that were assembled to evaluate the importance of correct diagnosis and appropriate pharmacotherapy in patients with OAB.

Results:

A thorough diagnostic process is crucial for allowing exclusion of underlying medical issues and differentiation from genitourinary conditions other than OAB. In addition, selecting the most appropriate pharmacotherapy needs to be carefully considered in the context of each patient with OAB. In general, patients with OAB tend to be older with various comorbidities and often receiving multiple concomitant medications. Treatment decisions should take into consideration the differing potential for antimuscarinic medications to alter cognitive and cardiovascular functions, both of which may be compromised in this patient population.

Conclusion:

Tailoring treatment to individual patients by comprehensive patient assessment may lead to more effective management of patients with OAB, especially those receiving polypharmacy for comorbidities.

Keywords:

• overactive bladder
• diagnosis
• antimuscarinics
• cognitive function
• cardiovascular

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge and thank his fellow advisory board participants, the Specialist Advisory Group on OAB (Lake Como, Italy, June 2009), who provided their input and approval of this short communication: Peter Dwyer (Australia); Jorge Haddad (Brazil); Karin Glavind (Denmark); Heinz Koelbl (Germany); Charlotte Greppe (Sweden); Annette Kuhn-Dörflinger (Switzerland); Linda Cardozo (UK); Vikram Khullar (UK). The author would also like to acknowledge Gunnar Lose (Denmark) who provided input during the advisory board.

The author would also like to thank Claire Chinn (professional writer with ACUMED^®) for her assistance in drafting and revising this manuscript.

Disclosure

Funding for the original advisory board, editorial support, drafting and revising this article was provided by Novartis Pharma AG.