Reproducibility of non-invasive urodynamics, using the cuff-uroflow, for the diagnosis of bladder outlet obstruction in males

Objective: To determine the repeatability of the parameters obtained from non-invasive urodynainics, using the cuff-uroflow, for the diagnosis of bladder outlet obstruction. Material and Methods: The study was carried out in a consecutive series of 34 males with functional urinary tract symptoms. The test-retest reproducibility of isometric pressure, flow in response to isovolumetric pressure and the energy transfer ratio obtained at two different times using the cuff-uroflow method was determined. Results: Very good agreement for the flow in response to isovolumetric pressure measurement (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.96) and good agreement for the isovolumetric pressure measurement (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.87) and the energy transfer ratio (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.84) were demonstrated. The patients were classified into three groups according to the value of the energy transfer ratio, and it was found that there was very good agreement between the groups into which patients were classified as a result of the first and second measurements (kappa index 0.81). Conclusions: The parameters obtained with the cuff-uroflow are reliable and the energy transfer ratio allows one to classify patients into reproducible groups.