Back to 2026 Abstracts
Development of a Pediatric Neurogenic Bladder Symptom Score Survey (PEDS-NBSS)
Madeleine AZ Ball, MD
1, Katemanee Burapachaisri, BS
1,
Than S. Kyaw, MD1, Blayne Welk, MD
2, Lindsay A. Hampson, MD, MAS
1, Hillary L. Copp, MD, MS
1.
1University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, 2Western University, London, ON, Canada
BACKGROUND: The Neurogenic Bladder Symptom Score (NBSS) and the NBSS-Short Form are tools validated and developed for adult patients with neurogenic bladder. These tools are fundamental to monitor symptom progression, evaluate treatment response, and compare outcomes. However, no validated neurogenic bladder symptom score currently exists for pediatric patients. This study aims to describe the development of a pediatric version of the NBSS-Short Form for children with neurogenic bladder.
METHODS: The NBSS-Short Form was adapted into age-appropriate language, and cognitive interview probes were developed to assess comprehension. Twenty-two pediatric patients (10 with neurogenic bladder, 12 controls) completed the questionnaire, with probes administered after each item. Patient feedback informed iterative revisions. The revised instrument was subsequently reviewed by an expert panel of six pediatric urologists, and their input was incorporated to produce the final 10-item Pediatric NBSS.
RESULTS: The final PEDS-NBSS consists of 10 age-appropriate questions aimed at assessing bladder symptoms and perception of impact on quality of life. It incorporates several rounds of feedback from pediatric patients as well as an expert panel. Key areas modified included (1) removal of images that confused more than aided respondents, (2) re-ordering of questions to prevent bias and/or misunderstanding of later questions based on answers to earlier questions, (3) clarification to better represent the goal of the question, (4) modification of answer choice order to reduce cognitive load on children, while maintaining score parity with the adult NBSS.
CONCLUSIONS: The proposed Pediatric Neurogenic Bladder Symptom Score (PEDS-NBSS) is a novel patient-reported outcome measure derived from the adult NBSS-Short Form. Further studies are ongoing to evaluate the validity and reliability of this instrument.
Back to 2026 Abstracts
