The Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection Impact Questionnaire (RUTIIQ)

Urinary Tract infections (UTI) affect more than 400 million people every year globally, with over 100 million people suffering from recurrent UTI (rUTI). Recurrent UTIs are defined by the European Association of Urology (EAU) and the American Urological Association (AUA) as experiencing 2 or more UTIs in 6 months, or 3 or more in a year.

Research has demonstrated that rUTI can severely impact quality of life, with negative consequences for mental health, socialising, work and other daily activities, and sexual wellbeing. Previously there was no validated PRO measure for clinicians and researchers to evaluate the unique impact of living with rUTI on quality of life. Now, with the development of the RUTIIQ, there is the opportunity to capture the breadth of challenges experienced by people living with rUTI, enhancing patient-centred care through standardised exploration of the patient perspective beyond examination of symptoms alone. The RUTIIQ was developed in collaboration with researchers at the University of Reading, Live UTI Free, and Patient-Centred Research and Data Insights (PARED Insights). Live UTI Free is a research and patient advocacy organisation that creates and delivers evidence-based resources about recurrent and chronic UTI to the vast UTI patient community, whilst also driving forward patient-focused UTI research and recruitment. PARED Insights provides advanced health psychology and PRO research expertise to researchers and clinicians working in urology and other women’s health areas and is dedicated to highlighting the patient voice and perspective.

Associated Symptom Scale

The RUTIIQ is designed to be used independently, or alongside the Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection Symptom Scale (RUTISS). The RUTISS is a 15-item PROM designed to measure the patient experience of rUTI symptom and pain/discomfort severity. It is recommended that the RUTISS and RUTIIQ are administered together, to capture a full evaluation of both patient-reported rUTI symptoms and quality of life impact.

A simple to use scoring system is utilised throughout, with the added flexibility of scoring and reporting across individual domains, as well as an overall RUTIIQ impact score. A scoring table and calculation tool are provided in the RUTIIQ scoring guide.

• Individual domain scores can be computed by summing the scored responses within a single domain (e.g., personal wellbeing). Higher scores indicate greater negative impact to quality of life and lower patient satisfaction with UTI-related medical care. As the 'sexual wellbeing' domain is optional, it may not generate a score.
• The RUTIIQ impact score is computed by summing the individual domain scores, dividing this by the number of completed items (18 if all questions were completed, or 15 if the optional ‘sexual wellbeing’ domain was skipped), and then multiplying this figure by 10. This will generate a range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater negative impact.

Further written guidance on scoring and administration of the RUTIIQ are provided upon obtaining a licence to use the RUTIIQ.

The RUTIIQ has been applied to monitor people living with rUTI within research studies and as part of routine clinical practice. The rigorous psychometric validation of the RUTIIQ provides confidence in its application in urology, primary care, and wider healthcare and research settings. The RUTIIQ enables clinicians and researchers to quantitatively calibrate any psychosocial challenges requiring intervention beyond UTI symptom experiences, additionally offering an assessment of the effectiveness of interventions.

• Paper and pen completion.
• Digital (eCOA) completion, upon request.

Please enquire.

• Scoring and administration instructions
• Concept Elaboration Document (to assist in translating the RUTIIQ)

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Standard licenses are available at no cost for most academic research and other non-commercial uses. For other uses, we will advise on any licensing costs based on the details you provide in the Licence Request Form.