CORRELATION BETWEEN VISUAL PROSTATE SYMPTOM SCORE (VPSS) AND QMAX

*Dr. Mudassar Saeed Pansota, Dr. Muhammad Burhan Barkat, Dr. Asra Aleem, Dr. Mubasher Saeed Pansota, Dr. Muhammad Shahzad Saleem and Dr. Mumtaz Rasool

ABSTRACT

Introduction: The American Urological Association -7 (AUA-7) symptom index, later recognized by World Health Organization as International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) is a validated tool with excellent test-retest reliability. IPSS was supposed to be self-administered with its use in primary care settings but patients with lower education level find it difficult to understand. There are chances of misinterpretation and misreporting if done by other family members. To overcome these problems Visual prostate symptom score (VPSS) has been devised by van Der Walt et al from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. It is a pictogram having four components representing weak stream, day and night frequency and quality of life. This is easy to use and comprehend even by patients with lower education level. Objectives: To determine the correlation between Visual prostate symptom score (VPSS) and Qmax in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms. Materials & Methods: A total of 100 patients presented with lower urinary tract symptoms aged 50-80 years were included. Patients with chronic urinary retention having deranged renal function tests, previous prostate surgery, distal ureteric stone and neurogenic bladder were excluded. VPSS was assessed by the researcher himself. After this each patient was undergone urodynamic studies and urine flow rate (Qmax) was measured. Results: Mean VPSS was 11.57 ± 2.97 and mean Qmax was 9.71 ± 2.81 ml/s. Pearson’s correlation between Visual prostate symptom score (VPSS) and Qmax in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms was found to be 0.649 with p-value of 0.0001 which is significant and showed strong correlation between Visual prostate symptom score (VPSS) and Qmax. Conclusion: This study concluded that VPSS is significantly correlated with Qmax in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms.

Keywords: lower urinary tract symptoms, visual prostate symptom score, uroflowmetry.