Caffeine Reduction Education And Overactive Bladder Symptoms

Objective: To evaluate the impact of caffeine reduction education on urinary frequency. Methods: Women with overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms who scored a 6 on the Questionnaire for Urinary Incontinence Diagnosis and who consumed at least 200 mg of caffeine daily were recruited. After completing baseline 3-day bladder diaries including amount and type of caffeine consumption, as well as validated urinary symptom severity, bother and quality of life questionnaires, women were randomized to receive caffeine reduction education vs. a control group who reviewed their voiding diary with no counseling to reduce caffeine; both groups were asked to maintain total fluid intake. Participants repeated the 3-day bladder diary and validated questionnaires following randomization. A total of 80 women were required to achieve 80% power with an alpha error of 0.05 to detect a difference of 1.3 in mean number of daily voids averaged over a 3-day voiding diary.