The use of a simple home flow test as a quality indicator for male patients treated for lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of bladder outlet obstruction.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the performance of a simple home flow test (HFT) in the examination and follow-up of patients suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of bladder outlet obstruction.
METHODS: One hundred seventy-two patients who were treated with either transurethral resection of the prostate or transurethral microwave therapy were included. Symptom evaluation, HFT and uroflowmetry were done before and 3 months following treatment. The patients' opinions about the need for further therapy and the effect of therapy were categorised at the follow-up.
RESULTS: The HFT correlated strongly with the maximum flow rate (Qmax) both before and after therapy and it was better correlated to the symptoms of the patients and to the subjective effect of therapy compared to the Qmax.
CONCLUSION: HFT is a cost-saving diagnostic technique for the classification of urinary flow and should be useful as a quality indicator in large-scale health care management programs.