Urological chronic pelvic pain syndrome flares and their impact: qualitative analysis in the MAPP network.

Introduction And Hypothesis: Although in-depth qualitative information is critical to understanding patients' symptom experiences and to developing patient-centered outcome measures, only one previous qualitative study has assessed urological chronic pelvic pain syndrome (UCPPS) symptom exacerbations ("flares").

Methods: We conducted eight focus groups of female UCPPS (interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome) patients at four sites from the MAPP Research Network (n = 57, mean = 7/group) to explore the full spectrum of flares and their impact on patients' lives.

Results: Flare experiences were common and varied widely in terms of UCPPS symptoms involved, concurrent nonpelvic symptoms (e.