Background: Female athletes (FAs) have been shown to have a higher prevalence of urinary incontinence (UI) than nonathletes. Within the field of urogynecology and pelvic health, there are many patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). In 2014, there was a call for a psychometrically strong PROM for screening, diagnosis, and treatment of FA with UI. The goal of this scoping review is to describe the available PROMs and the state of validation for use with FA with UI. Methods: Four databases (PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and SPORTDiscus) were explored using key terms: FA, UI, PROM, validation, or psychometric. The Journal of Women’s and Pelvic Health Physical Therapy ( JWPHPT ) was hand searched for eligibility. A data extraction tool was used during full-text review. Results: A total of 383 eligible publications from online databases and 502 publications from JWPHPT resulted in 35 publications eligible for full-text review. Zero of the 35 publications reported the psychometric properties of a PROM for use with FA with UI. Ten of the 35 publications utilized a PROM validated with non-FA. Six of the 35 publications created novel PROMs without reporting the psychometric properties using individual questions from PROMs validated with non-FA. One of the 35 publications did not disclose PROM creation and validation history. Discussion: The call for a validated PROM to assess prevalence, compare treatments, and quantify outcomes in the FA with UI remains unanswered. The lack of a validated PROM in the FA population hinders the ability of the physical therapist to accurately reflect and communicate the value of physical therapy care when treating the FA with UI.
Lanty et al. (Thu,) studied this question.