The International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire (original) (raw)

ICIQ Background

In 1998, the 1st International Consultation on Incontinence (ICI) was held in Monaco, sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and organised by the International Consultation on Urological Diseases (ICUD).The scientific committee, which met at the end of the 1st ICI, supported the idea that a universally applicable questionnaire should be developed for urinary incontinence that could be widely applied both in clinical practice and research.

The hope was expressed that such a questionnaire would be used in different settings and studies and would allow cross-comparisons, for example, between a drug and an operation used for the same condition, in the same way that the IPSS (International Prostate Symptoms Score) has been used.

An ICIQ Advisory Board was formed to steer the development of the ICIQ, and met for the first time in 1999. The project’s early progress was discussed with the Board and a decision made to extend the concept further and to develop the ICIQ Modular Questionnaire. The first module to be developed was the ICIQ Short Form Questionnaire for urinary incontinence: the ICIQ-UI Short Form. The ICIQ-UI Short Form has now been fully validated according to the ICIQ validation protocol. Given the intention to produce an internationally applicable questionnaire, requests were made for translations of the ICIQ-UI Short Form at an early stage, for which the Advisory Board developed a translation protocol.

The ICIQ is run from the Bristol Urological Institute, based at North Bristol NHS Trust, Southmead Hospital, Bristol. We are keen to welcome further collaborations to continue the development of the ICIQ modules.