Project example 8: Lower urinary tract symptoms

Project type	Outcomes research
Indication	Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS)
Intervention	Oral medication
Methods	Multinomial regression
Deliverables	Report
Presentations	International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), European conferenct. Athens 2008. Poster

The aim of this project was to predict the utility effect of four medication strategies for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). First, the relationship between LUTS and quality-of-life measured with the Short-Form 12 (SF-12) was established using the data from a large epidemiologic survey. From the observed data, multinomial regression models were derived to predict the score on each of the 12 domains in the SF-12 from the following parameters: International Prostate Symptom Score, urinary frequency, urgency episodes, and urgency urinary incontinence. Secondly, the regression equations were applied to predict the SF-12 scores of patients treated with each of four medication strategies: Tolterodine monotherapy, Tamsulosin monotherapy, combination therapy, or placebo. Finally, the predicted SF-12 scores were translated into EQ-5D utilities using published algorithms. The incremental utilities expected from treatment with combination therapy versus placebo were calculated from the expecte utility scores. The results were documented in an internal report to the sponsor and have been presentated at a scientific conference.