Investigating the Course and Predictors of Desire to Void After Stroke with the New Desire to Void Scale: A Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Objective: The aims of the study were to: (1) test the reliability, validity, and responsiveness of our originally developed desire to void scale (DVS); and (2) investigate the time course of the DV after stroke during the post-acute phase.Methods: DVS was tested by having two independent raters assess the scale and calculating the weighted kappa. To evaluate its concurrent validity, Pearson's correlation coefficients between DVS and the bladder management item of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) were calculated. A prospective analysis of the time course of the DVS and its relationships with age, sex, stroke type, paretic side, and the FIM score in 103 patients hospitalised in a rehabilitation ward was then performed. To quantify its responsiveness, standardised response means during the recovering phase of stroke were obtained. To predict discharge DVS scores from demographic characteristics and admission status, multiple regression analysis was performed.Results: The DVS had satisfactory inter- and intra-rater reliabilities. The standardised response means for DVS from admission to discharge was .58. The discharge DVS improved significantly when compared with the admission DVS. Stroke type, admission DVS, and cognition scores of the FIM were independent predictors of discharge DVS.