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. 2018 Mar;27(3):283-289.
doi: 10.1089/jwh.2017.6566. Epub 2017 Sep 15.

The Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) Research Consortium: A Transdisciplinary Approach Toward Promoting Bladder Health and Preventing Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Women Across the Life Course

Bernard L Harlow  1 , Tamara G Bavendam  2 , Mary H Palmer  3 , Linda Brubaker  4 , Kathryn L Burgio  5   6 , Emily S Lukacz  7 , Janis M Miller  8 , Elizabeth R Mueller  9 , Diane K Newman  10 , Leslie M Rickey  11 , Siobhan Sutcliffe  12 , Denise Simons-Morton  13
Affiliations

The Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) Research Consortium: A Transdisciplinary Approach Toward Promoting Bladder Health and Preventing Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Women Across the Life Course

Bernard L Harlow et al. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2018 Mar.

Abstract

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are highly prevalent in women, and are expected to impose a growing burden to individuals and society as the population ages. The predominance of research related to LUTS has focused on underlying pathology, disease mechanisms, or the efficacy of treatments for women with LUTS. Although this research has been vital for helping to reduce or ameliorate LUTS conditions, it has done little to prevent the onset of LUTS. Health promotion and prevention require an expansion of scientific inquiry beyond the traditional paradigm of studying disease mechanisms and treatment to the creation of an evidence base to support recommendations for bladder health promotion and, in turn, prevention of LUTS. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) introduced the concept of prevention as an important priority for women's urologic research as a prelude to supporting the formation of the Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) research consortium. In this article, we introduce the PLUS research consortium to the scientific community; share the innovative paradigms by which the consortium operates; and describe its unique research mission: to identify factors that promote bladder health across the life course and prevent the onset of LUTS in girls and women.

Keywords: bladder; health promotion; incontinence; lower urinary tract symptoms; prevention; social ecology; transdisciplinary; urinary tract infection; urination; women's health.

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Conflict of interest statement

No competing financial interests exist.

Figures

<b>FIG. 1.</b>
FIG. 1.
PLUS research centers, Scientific and Data Coordinating Center, and investigator locations. BU, Boston University; NIDDK, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases; PLUS, Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms; SDCC, Scientific and Data Coordinating Center; UAB, University of Alabama Birmingham; UCSD, University of California San Diego; UNC, University of North Carolina.
<b>FIG. 2.</b>
FIG. 2.
PLUS organizational structure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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