Pediatric Urology Quality of Life Questionnaire

Background

• Problem: Lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) leads to urinary incontinence, urinary frequency, and urgency, and affects roughly 19-26% of school‑age children around the globe. No methods exist to easily and accurately measure how these symptoms affect children’s lives (their quality of life).
• Solution: A customized questionnaire that assesses the degree of impact LUTD symptoms have on children’s quality of life.
• Unique value proposition: The questionnaire captures changes in patients’ quality of life over time to determine effective treatment options.

Technology Overview

Lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) affects many children across the world and manifests with symptoms such as urinary incontinence, urinary frequency, and difficulty in emptying the bladder. While there are existing health-related quality of life (HRQOL) questionnaires used for children with LUTD, these questionnaires have limited specificity and sensitivity to the child’s symptoms.

IU researchers have developed a child-centered LUTD-specific HRQOL questionnaire, known as the Riley Bladder Quality of Life Questionnaire (RIBQQ). The questionnaire correlates with symptom severity and detects changes in HRQOL as symptoms improve. Furthermore, the questionnaire can be used to assess the degree to which LUTD symptoms impact the child’s life, to guide treatment options, and to determine the effectiveness of treatments.

Lead PI for 2025‑063 technology: Konrad Szymanski

Benefits

• RIBQQ is quick to administer and easy to score while being sensitive to capturing changes over time.
• The questionnaire focuses on the child’s experience, not the parents.
• The questionnaire was developed by a team of children, parents, and urologists.

Applications

• Pediatric urology.
• Lower urinary tract dysfunction.

Opportunity

This technology is open to feedback