International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaires (ICIQ)

Original Editor - Nicole Hills

Top Contributors - Nicole Hills, Kim Jackson and Oyemi Sillo  


About the ICIQ[edit | edit source]

The International Consultation of Incontinence (ICIQ) has developed a series of international questionnaires and is striving to validate these questionnaires for the investigation lower urinary tract dysfunction, vaginal symptoms and lower bowel dysfunction in research and clinical settings.[1] Requests to use any of the developed ICIQs in research or clinical practice can be made by visiting ICIQ Contact Us. The following page presents information on the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence.

International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire - Urinary Incontinence Short Form (ICIQ-UI Short Form)[edit | edit source]

Objective[edit | edit source]

This short questionnaire can be used by clinicians to screen for incontinence, to obtain a brief yet comprehensive summary of the level, impact and perceived cause of symptoms of incontinence and to facilitate patient-clinician discussions.[2]

Intended Population[edit | edit source]

Adult females and males[2]

Method of Use[edit | edit source]

A patient-reported questionnaire that can be done by the patient independently or during an assessment with a practitioner.

Time to complete: a few minutes[3]

Question Items[3][edit | edit source]
  • Frequency of urinary incontinence
  • Amount of leakage
  • Overall impact of urinary incontinence
  • Self-diagnostic item
Scoring System[edit | edit source]

The ICIQ-UI Short form provides a score ranging from 0-21. With a higher score indicating greater severity of symptoms.[1] The "self-diagnostic" portion of the questionnaire is not given a score.[1]

Evidence[edit | edit source]

Reliability[edit | edit source]

Stability: Test-retest reliability range from good to very good (Kappa value = 0.67-0.90) for all items except “overall quality of life which was found to be moderate (Kappa value = 0.58).[2]

Internal consistency has been found to be excellent (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient = 0.95).[2] 

Validity[edit | edit source]

Content validity: Items in the ICIQ-UI Short form have been found to be easily interpreted by patients and appear to cover all important domains of incontinence with good response rates from community volunteers.[2]

Construct validity: The ICIQ-UI has been found to differentiated between males and females, with females reporting more incontinence than males (58.9% and 25.2% respectively, p < 0.001).[2]

Convergent validity: There currently is no “gold standard” questionnaire for incontinence, but agreement between responses to ICIQ-UI and Bristol Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (BFLUTS)[4] as been investigated.[2] Questions on the ‘frequency’ and ‘usual amount’ of leakage ranged from moderate to strong (r=0.53-0.86), questions assessing the perceived causes of incontinence ranged from weak to moderate (r=0.29-0.55).[2] 

Sensitivity to change[edit | edit source]

A statistically significant reduction in symptoms have been found between baseline scores and scores following conservative treatment in both males and females in all items (p<0.0001) except for "overall quality of life" (females,p=0.12; males, p=0.24).[2]

A statistically significant decrease in symptoms has also been found between baseline scores and scores after surgical intervention in both females and males (p<0.0001).[2]

Resource[edit | edit source]

You can read more about the ICIQ-UI Short form here.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bristol Urological Institute.The International Consultation of Incontinence Modular Questionnaire. http://www.iciq.net/(accessed 15 June 2018).
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Avery K, Donovan J, Peters TJ, Shaw C, Gotoh M, Abrams P. ICIQ: a brief and robust measure for evaluating the symptoms and impact of urinary incontinence. Neurourology and urodynamics. 2004 Jan 1;23(4):322-30.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Bristol Urological Institute. ICIQ Structure Short Form. http://www.iciq.net/ICIQ-UIshortform.html (accessed 15 June 2018).
  4. Jackson S, Donovan J, Brookes S, Eckford S, Swithinbank L, Abrams P. The Bristol female lower urinary tract symptoms questionnaire: development and psychometric testing. BJU International. 1996 Jun 1;77(6):805-12.