Improving Overactive Bladder Treatment Access and Adherence Through Personalized Behavioral Modifications and Mobile Technology-Based Interventions

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Poor access and insufficient patient education regarding OAB chronicity, expected outcomes, costs, and potential side effects lead to unrealistic patient perceptions about therapy and suboptimal therapy duration, particularly in vulnerable populations. This thus leads to poor treatment access, adherence, and

undertreatment. My long-term goal is to develop as an independently funded investigator and international leader who will pioneer interventions that improve OAB therapy access, adherence and outcomes, thereby reducing the burden of this chronic condition. The overall objective for this K23 proposal is to design an

innovative, stakeholder-informed strategy that incorporates barriers to treatment (such as social determinants of health) and improves patient access to therapy options and therapy adherence. The central hypothesis is that unmet patient expectations and knowledge due to lack of access and suboptimal provider-to-patient OAB

healthcare delivery are a barrier to treatment adherence. This central hypothesis will be tested pursuing two specific aims: 1. Evaluate an adapted UI mobile health tool for use in a diverse, multicultural population of women with OAB and identify barriers and facilitators to access, treatment adherence and engagement from

multiple key stakeholders. 2. Conduct a pilot study to evaluate the usability and feasibility of using a mobile health tool to improve OAB knowledge, engagement and treatment plan adherence in a diverse group of women with OAB. The rationale for the proposed research is that its completion is expected to provide a strong

evidence-based framework for the continued development and future implementation of cost-effective, evidence-based interventions to improve OAB therapy access and adherence. Combined these results are expected to have an important positive impact by positioning me to submit a competitive R01 application

proposing a randomized controlled efficacy trial for improving therapy access, adherence, and OAB outcomes during the fourth year of this award.