# Bladder health promotion and LUTS prevention inadolescent and adult women across the life course

> **NIH NIH U01** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $299,949

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), including storage, voiding, urinary incontinence symptoms and pain,
and their associated diagnoses are common, costly, and negatively impact women's quality of life throughout
the life course. Despite their common occurrence and high cost, little research to date has focused on
identification of risk and protective factors for LUTS and prevention, and even less has focused on promotion
and maintenance of bladder health. To address this gap, the Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms
(PLUS) Research Consortium (of which our site is a founding Clinical Research Center) was established to
develop the scientific foundation for future evidence-based bladder health promotion and LUTS prevention
interventions in adolescent and adult women. In this application, we propose to build upon foundational work
conducted in PLUS 1 to further this scientific foundation. Specifically, we propose to establish a large,
longitudinal, national, population-based, observational cohort study (currently under development and co-led
by the Washington University School of Medicine site PI) designed to: a) determine the distribution of and
changes in bladder health over time in the general female population; and b) identify new risk and protective
factors for LUTS and bladder health amenable to intervention. Per the FOA, we have selected one important
risk/protective factor research question for incorporation into the population-based cohort study: does chronic
delayed voiding, a common behavior among women across the life course that can be addressed by
preventive interventions at multiple levels of social ecology, contribute to bladder health deterioration
and the development of LUTS? Guided by an intervention mapping approach and community partner insight,
we will build the evidence base for this research question by conducting a series of innovative, multi-method,
transdiciplinary studies nested within the population-based cohort study, as well as complementary to this
study. Together, this comprehensive set of quantitative and qualitative studies will provide: 1) critical new data
to address the causal nature of associations between chronic delayed voiding and bladder health/LUTS (i.e.,
high-quality, prospective epidemiologic data devoid of temporal biases and supportive biologic, mechanistic
data); 2) new findings to inform the optimal focus and mode of delivery of future prevention interventions (i.e.,
multi-method data on the strongest individual-behavioral, interpersonal, institutional, and community/societal
determinants of chronic delayed voiding, the most effective mode of delivery of educational interventions
[assuming that future interventions will include an educational component], and initial promising educational
messages); and 3) new tools to evaluate future interventions. As such, this complementary set of studies
holds the promise to greatly expand the foundation of knowledge for future bladder health prom...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10248533
- **Project number:** 5U01DK106853-07
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Siobhan Sutcliffe
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $299,949
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2015-08-15 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10248533

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10248533, Bladder health promotion and LUTS prevention inadolescent and adult women across the life course (5U01DK106853-07). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10248533. Licensed CC0.

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