Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) Research Consortium Scientific and Data Coordinating Center

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Project Summary Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) encompass a variety of bothersome storage and emptying symptoms, including urgency and stress urinary incontinence, frequent and/or urgent urination, nocturnal enuresis (i.e., bed-wetting), difficulty urinating, dribbling after urination, and bladder or urethral pain before, during, or after urination. More than 200 million people worldwide and over 15% of women aged 40 years or older suffer from urinary incontinence. In fact, women are 2-3 times more likely to experience urinary incontinence and 4 times more likely to experience a urinary tract infection in comparison to men. For decades LUTS research has focused on underlying pathology, disease mechanisms, and treatment efficacy. The NIDDK took a bold step by introducing the concept of prevention as an important priority for women's urologic research. Through its transdisciplinary team science approach, the Prevention of Lower Urinary tract Symptoms Research Consortium (PLUS-RC) is creating new conceptual models and paradigms, developing innovative measures, establishing evidence, and leading and seeding research on bladder health and LUTS prevention. As the Scientific and Data Coordinating Center (SDCC) for this unique consortium since its inception, we are excited to further develop the evidence base to empower women and their communities to advocate for an environment that supports healthy bladders. During this next grant period, we plan to (1) provide leadership, management, and biostatistical support in the design and implementation of a nationally and regionally representative prospective longitudinal cohort study to assess the distribution of bladder health and evaluate potential risk and protective factors that influence bladder health status; (2) provide leadership, management, and biostatistical support in the analysis of existing studies (quantitative and qualitative) that will lead to the collaborative development of conceptual models that guide analyses within the observational study above, and new studies that support future primary or secondary prevention initiatives; (3) provide leadership in the principles and process devoted to item development, instrument development, and psychometric evaluation and scoring; (4) facilitate a network of community stakeholders to assist and collaborate in the process of data collection development, execution, and dissemination; (5) foster transdisciplinary team science across all consortium activities and centers; and (6) provide administrative leadership and logistical support and coordination of meetings of the Steering Committee, all subcommittees, the Executive Committee, the External Expert Panel, and the pilot and feasibility studies program, for the efficient and ethical execution of consortium objectives.