“The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder” – Alfred Hitchcock

The AUA Office of Education works with our members through year-round educational needs assessment research to ensure we are providing what you need.

In 2022, the AUA conducted Phase I of an overactive bladder (OAB) needs assessment to better understand the educational needs of the urological care team who manage OAB patients. These comprehensive needs assessments include one-on-one interviews, multiple focus groups, and thereafter an online survey sent out to the broader AUA membership. For this OAB survey, a total of 759 surveys were completed for a response rate of 7%. Nearly all urology health care providers responding to this survey (95%) indicate they personally manage OAB patients.

A key observation from the one-on-one interviews and focus groups was that the prescribing habits of urology health care providers was quite consistent. For the most part, almost all providers initially started patients on an anticholinergic medication. This was attributable to the insurance approval process for coverage of β3 agonist medications which often required failure of an anticholinergic prior to initiating a β3 agonist. The Figure summarizes the biggest barriers associated with the prescribing of OAB medications.

Based on these barriers, over half of urological health care providers (53%) indicated that the greatest educational need for OAB related to the insurance approval process and documentation for β3 agonists. Other areas noted as OAB educational needs include review of the AUA/Society of Urodynamics, Female Pelvic Medicine & Urogenital Reconstruction guideline and amendment, the role of combination therapy (anticholinergic plus β3 agonist), and management of comorbid conditions. In addition, only 38% of respondents indicated they are very familiar with the term “anticholinergic burden.”

The Office of Education invests all of this time and resources to ensure that the education we provide is directed at what our members need. To that end, I want to share with you the education that is currently available to meet these identified needs.

If you need some immediate education, I would recommend the online CME (Continuing Medical Education) course, “Live From AUA2022: Highlights in Overactive Bladder” housed in AUAUniversity (https://auau.auanet.org/content/live-aua2022-highlights-overactive-bladder). This is a great course which provides a summary of all of the most important OAB updates from AUA2022, including relevant plenary content, abstracts, and instructional courses.

At AUA2023, there will be several in-person educational opportunities. First, Dr Victor Nitti will be joining the Advanced Practice Provider 2-day program on Saturday, April 29, to review these data and discuss the treatment modalities for OAB. Later that day, Dr Eric Rovner will lead a very popular session titled, “Contemporary Pharmacotherapy for Overactive Bladder 2023: Monotherapy and Combined Pharmacotherapy to Optimize Treatment.” This 2-hour Instructional Course will cover many of the issues highlighted in the needs assessment including (1) the similarities and differences between the various oral pharmacotherapies for OAB, (2) the principles of physiology and pharmacotherapy for currently available agents (including antimuscarinics, β3 agonists, and combination therapy), and (3) analyzing the clinical (and theoretical) advantages and limitations of currently available agents. This is always a well-attended course which I highly recommend.

We would like to thank the 750+ members who took the time to respond to AUA’s needs assessment survey as well as to Victor W. Nitti, MD and Lynn Allmond, NP for their contribution and leadership to this activity. The AUA would also like to thank Urovant Sciences, Inc for providing an independent educational grant in support of this educational needs assessment.

If you have any questions about this survey, please email education@auanet.org, and if you ever receive one of our email invitations, I encourage you to take a few minutes to share your thoughts with us. It is invaluable for us to improve the programming for our membership.