One year effectiveness of an app‐based treatment for urinary incontinence in comparison to care as usual in Dutch general practice: A pragmatic randomised controlled trial over 12 months

OBJECTIVE: To assess the long‐term effectiveness of app‐based treatment for female stress, urgency or mixed urinary incontinence (UI) compared with care‐as‐usual in primary care. DESIGN: A pragmatic, randomised controlled, superiority trial. SETTING: Primary care in the Netherlands from 2015 to 2018, follow up at 12 months. POPULATION: Women with two or more UI episodes per week and access to mobile apps, wanting treatment. A total of 262 women were randomised equally to app or care‐as‐usual; 89 (68%) and 83 (63%) attended 1 year follow up. INTERVENTIONS: The standalone app included conservative management for UI with motivation aids (e.g. reminders). Care‐as‐usual was delivered according to the Dutch GP guideline for UI. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Effectiveness assessed by the change in symptom severity score (ICIQ‐UI‐SF) and the change in quality of life (ICIQ‐LUTSqol) with linear regression on an intention‐to‐treat basis. RESULTS: Clinically relevant improvement of UI severity for both app (−2.17 ± 2.81) and care‐as‐usual (−3.43 ± 3.6) groups, with a non‐significant mean difference of 0.903 (−0.66 to 1.871). CONCLUSION: App‐based treatment is a viable alternative to care‐as‐usual for UI in primary care in terms of effectiveness after 1 year. TWEETABLE ABSTRACT: App‐based treatment for female urinary incontinence is a viable alternative to care‐as‐usual after 12 months.