aua_symptom_index: American Urological Association Symptom Index (AUA-SI)

In cliot: Clinical Indices and Outcomes Tools

American Urological Association Symptom Index (AUA-SI)

Description

Calculates the AUA Symptom Index (also known as the International Prostate Symptom Score, IPSS) for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). The index consists of 7 questions regarding urinary symptoms, each scored from 0 to 5. An optional 8th question assesses Quality of Life (QoL) regarding urinary symptoms.

Usage

aua_symptom_index(incomplete_emptying, frequency, intermittency, urgency,
                  weak_stream, straining, nocturia, quality_of_life = NULL)

Arguments

incomplete_emptying	Numeric (0-5). Sensation of not emptying bladder completely after finishing.
frequency	Numeric (0-5). Frequency of urination (less than 2 hours after finishing).
intermittency	Numeric (0-5). Stopping and starting several times when urinating.
urgency	Numeric (0-5). Difficulty postponing urination.
weak_stream	Numeric (0-5). Weak urinary stream.
straining	Numeric (0-5). Need to push or strain to begin urination.
nocturia	Numeric (0-5). Number of times getting up to urinate from the time going to bed until getting up in the morning.
quality_of_life	Numeric (0-6) (Optional). "If you were to spend the rest of your life with your urinary condition just the way it is now, how would you feel about that?" 0=Delighted, 1=Pleased, 2=Mostly Satisfied, 3=Mixed, 4=Mostly Dissatisfied, 5=Unhappy, 6=Terrible.

Details

Scoring Key (Questions 1-6): 0 = Not at all 1 = Less than 1 time in 5 2 = Less than half the time 3 = About half the time 4 = More than half the time 5 = Almost always

Value

A list containing:

AUA_Symptom_Score	Sum of the 7 symptom scores (Range 0-35).
Severity_Category	"Mild" (0-7), "Moderate" (8-19), or "Severe" (20-35).
Quality_of_Life_Description	Text description corresponding to the QoL score.

References

Barry MJ, Fowler FJ Jr, O'Leary MP, et al. The American Urological Association symptom index for benign prostatic hyperplasia. The Measurement Committee of the American Urological Association. J Urol. 1992;148(5):1549-1557. doi:10.1016/s0022-5347(17)36966-5

Examples

# Example 1: Moderate Symptoms
# Scores: 2, 2, 3, 1, 3, 1, 2 = 14
aua_symptom_index(2, 2, 3, 1, 3, 1, 2, quality_of_life = 3)

# Example 2: Mild Symptoms
# All 1s = 7
aua_symptom_index(1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1)

cliot documentation built on Dec. 1, 2025, 1:06 a.m.