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Lifetime congenital urologic care: centering patient voices

Zhang X, Ionson AC, Groth AC, Allen KA, Adams R, Vincent T, Sage L, DeWitt-Foy M et al.

Journal of patient-reported outcomes, 2026

Abstract

Background: Adults with congenital urologic conditions, such as bladder exstrophy and vesicoureteral reflux, often require lifelong care that begins with childhood surgical reconstructions and extends through adolescence and adulthood with ongoing surveillance, follow-up care, and revision procedures when needed. Measurement of "success" can be difficult to quantify, as the definition of success may differ between parents and patients later in adulthood, and the definition of success should extend beyond f technical success to the broader care interventions and long-term outcomes, which often requires decades of follow-up time. The traditional clinician-defined endpoints may not capture what patients consider as "success" in the context of the adult patients' evolving goals for urinary function, sexual health, fertility, body image, and mental health across the lifetime. Patient-centered outcomes research offers a framework for centering patient voices, yet this has rarely been applied in adult congenital urology.

Main body: Guided by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) foundational expectations in patient engagement, we developed a structured community-partnership methodology for the patient-centered research process in lifetime congenital urologic care. The framework includes six steps: (1) partnership formation; (2) inclusive recruitment and relationship building; (3) co-defining research questions; (4) collaborative data generation and…

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