A variety of IC/BPS assessment tools are available for clinicians and researchers who are seeking to ways to diagnose patients as well as to evaluate a patients response to treatment. The newest tools (UPOINT & INPUT) focus on developing a unique subtype for each patient.

Up to this point, two surveys have been consistently used for IC/BPS (O’Leary-Sant and PUF) and one for chronic prostatitis (NIH-CPSI). In 2017, the US FDA convened a BRUDAC meeting for the purpose of reevaluating the effectiveness of the NIDDK IC criteria for clinical trials. Physicians attending the meeting petitioned the FDA that pain should be the driving indicator of success or failure in a treatment and/or clinical trial because pain generally drives the symptoms of urinary frequency and urgency.  Thus, it is likely that new assessment tools will be developed to more clearly measure pain levels.

These are the assessment tools that are in common use today.

UPOINT/INPUT

Developed by Drs Curtis Nickel and Dan Shoskes, UPOINT is the first formal subtyping system that looks beyond the bladder to evaluate overall patient health. It evaluates six different areas:

  • what urinary symptoms are present?
  • what’s the condition of the bladder (i.e. Hunner’s lesions)?
  • does the patient have other related conditions (i.e. IBS)?
  • what is the health of the pelvic floor muscles?
  • does the patient struggle with anxiety / depression?
  • has any infection been found?

Their survey is available online at: http://www.upointmd.com

In 2017, they adapted UPOINT specifically for IC patients and call it INPUT. It evaluates patients in five distinct areas:

  • what urinary symptoms are present?
  • what’s the condition of the bladder (i.e. Hunner’s lesions)?
  • does the patient have other related conditions (i.e. IBS)?
  • what is the health of the pelvic floor muscles?
  • does the patient struggle with anxiety / depression?
  • has any infection been found?

O’LEARY-SANT SYMPTOM AND PROBLEM INDEXES

The oldest and most well established tool is the  O’Leary-Sant questionnaire which assesses severity of symptoms and the how symptoms are affecting a patients quality of life.

PELVIC PAIN AND URGENCY/FREQUENCY PATIENT SYMPTOM SCALE (PUF QUESTIONNAIRE)

Developed by Dr. Lowell Parsons, the PUF questionnaire assesses symptoms of pain, urgency, and frequency. It is often used by gynecologists to help distinguish bladder vs. reproductive tract pain.

GLOBAL RESPONSE ASSESSMENT (GRA)

The GRA assessment asks: “As compared to when you started the study [treatment], how would you rate your interstitial cystitis symptoms now?” The seven point scale is centered at zero (no change): markedly worse; moderately worse; slightly worse; no change; slightly improved; moderately improved; and markedly improved. It measures a patients overall response to treatment.

NIH-CHRONIC PROSTATITIS SYMPTOM INDEX (NIH-CPSI)

The NIH-CPSI is questionnaire is used for evaluation of men with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. It measures pain and urinary symptoms, their impact, and effect on quality of life.