Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients with the Bladder Exstrophy-Epispadias Complex and Relationship to Incontinence and Sexual Factors: A Review of the Recent Literature
Gundela Holmdahl, Michaela Dellenmark‐Blom, Agneta Nordenskjöld, Sofia Sjöström
Abstract
The bladder exstrophy-epispadia complex (BEEC) includes malformations with midline closing defects of the lower abdomen and external genitalia. Long-term consequences with urinary incontinence and sexual dysfunction, in spite of multiple surgical interventions, are common and expected to affect the patient's health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The extent and the predictive factors are, however, not known. New patient-reported outcome research is emerging, but valid and reliable condition-specific HRQOL are still missing. The aim of this review is to summarize and discuss the latest published reports (2015-2019) on HRQOL in patients with the BEEC and its relationship to incontinence and sexual factors.