The P revention of L ower U rinary Tract S ymptoms (PLUS) Research Consortium was established in 2015 to expand research, practice, and policies beyond the detection and treatment of LUTS to the promotion and preservation of bladder health and prevention of LUTS in girls and women.43 (link) While many multidisciplinary research networks focus on pelvic floor dysfunction and LUTS, the PLUS Consortium stands alone in its focus on prevention. The PLUS Consortium is comprised of a transdisciplinary network of professionals, including community advocates, health care professionals, and scientists specializing in pediatrics, adolescent medicine, gerontology and geriatrics, nursing, midwifery, behavioral medicine, preventive medicine, psychiatry, neuroendocrinology, reproductive medicine, female pelvic medicine and reconstructive surgery, urology, infectious diseases, clinical and social epidemiology, prevention science, medical sociology, psychology, women’s studies, sexual and gender minority health, community-engaged research, community health promotion, scale development, research methods, and biostatistics. Early conversations between network members acknowledged the diversity of girls and women with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). Members agreed to include SOGI measures in PLUS studies and to develop inclusion/exclusion criteria for cisgender and transgender individuals that fit the scientific objectives of each study.
To shift research, practice, and policies to a focus on health, the PLUS Consortium identified two initial tasks that it pursued in parallel. First, the Consortium drafted a definition of bladder health.44 Consistent with the World Health Organization’s definition of health,45 the PLUS Consortium conceptualizes bladder health as “a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being related to bladder function, and not merely the absence of LUTS,” with function that “permits daily activities, adapts to short term physical or environmental stressors, and allows optimal well-being (e.g., travel, exercise, social, occupational or other activities).” Second, the Consortium adopted a prevention science paradigm and developed a conceptual framework to guide the Consortium’s initial prevention research agenda. The Consortium began this task by establishing a shared understanding of prevention science among its diverse members. The Consortium then drew from separate, but complementary theoretical traditions and contemporary writings to develop the PLUS conceptual framework. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the PLUS approach in developing a conceptual framework to guide the Consortium’s initial prevention research agenda.
To shift research, practice, and policies to a focus on health, the PLUS Consortium identified two initial tasks that it pursued in parallel. First, the Consortium drafted a definition of bladder health.44 Consistent with the World Health Organization’s definition of health,45 the PLUS Consortium conceptualizes bladder health as “a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being related to bladder function, and not merely the absence of LUTS,” with function that “permits daily activities, adapts to short term physical or environmental stressors, and allows optimal well-being (e.g., travel, exercise, social, occupational or other activities).” Second, the Consortium adopted a prevention science paradigm and developed a conceptual framework to guide the Consortium’s initial prevention research agenda. The Consortium began this task by establishing a shared understanding of prevention science among its diverse members. The Consortium then drew from separate, but complementary theoretical traditions and contemporary writings to develop the PLUS conceptual framework. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the PLUS approach in developing a conceptual framework to guide the Consortium’s initial prevention research agenda.
