Evaluation of the draft guidelines proposed by EMA and FDA for the clinical diagnosis of acute uncomplicated cystitis in women

PURPOSE: To reassess the diagnostic values of the “draft” guidelines for the clinical diagnosis of acute uncomplicated cystitis (AC), recently proposed by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA). METHODS: The data of 517 female respondents (patients with acute cystitis and controls) derived from the e-USQOLAT database were analyzed and used for the validation of proposed “draft” guidelines of FDA and EMA, compared to the Acute Cystitis Symptom Score (ACSS) questionnaire. The diagnostic values of the proposals concerning signs, symptoms and their severity were assessed and compared. RESULTS: The six “typical” symptoms of the ACSS were strongly associated with the diagnosis of AC. The number of positive “typical” symptoms differed significantly between patients and controls: median 5 (IQR 4–6) vs 1 (IQR 0–3) respectively. Scored severity of “typical” symptoms also differed significantly between groups of patients and controls: median (IQR) 10 (7–13) vs 1 (0–4), respectively. The best balance between sensitivity and specificity is shown by the ACSS cut-off value of 6 scores and more of the “Typical” domain, followed by an approach proposed by FDA and EMA, justifying ACSS to be used as a diagnostic criterion for the clinical diagnosis of AC. CONCLUSIONS: Not only the presence but also the severity of the symptoms is important for an accurate diagnosis of AC. The ACSS, even without urinalysis is at least as favourable as the draft diagnostic proposals by FDA and EMA. The ACSS can be recommended for epidemiological and interventional studies, and allows women to establish self-diagnosis of AC, making the ACSS also cost-effective for healthcare. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00345-019-02761-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.