Received: 22 November 2016 | Revised: 1 January 2017 | Accepted: 7 January 2017 DOI 10.1002/nau.23236 ORIGINAL CLINICAL ARTICLE Somatic, psychological, and sexual triggers for overactive bladder syndrome in women Ariel Zilberlicht 1 | Nir Haya 1 | Ido Feferkorn 1 | Eyal Goldschmidt 2 | Anis Kaldawy 1 | Yoram Abramov 1 1 Division of Urogynecology and Reconstructive Pelvic Surgery, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Technion University, Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Haifa, Israel 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Bnei-Zion Medical Center, Haifa, Israel Correspondence Ariel Zilberlicht, MD, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Carmel Medical Center, Technion Medical Faculty, 7 Michal St., Haifa 31048, Israel. Email: arielzilberlicht@gmail.com AIMS: Patients with overactive bladder (OAB) often describe somatic, psychological, and sexual triggers for their symptoms. The aim of this study was to characterize these triggers and assess their impact on patients’ symptoms and quality of life (QoL). METHODS: Patients who visited our urogynecologic clinic between August 2015 and March 2016 and diagnosed with OAB syndrome were asked to fill a questionnaire comprising 34 statements regarding SOmatic, Psychological, and Sexual Triggers for OAB (SOPSETO). Patients additionaly completed the UDI-6 and IIQ-7 questionnaires. Statistical analysis was performed to determine the prevalence of each trigger and its correlation with the UDI-6 and IIQ-7 scores. RESULTS: Sixty four women enrolled in this study. The SOPSETO questionnaire was found to be relaiable with Cronbach's alpha of 0.73-0.88. Construct validity was high with good correlation between the SOPSETO and the UDI-6 and IIQ-7 questionnaires. The triggers which had the highest correlation with the total UDI-6 scores were: Being far from toilets (r = 0.32, P = 0.004), swimming (r = 0.44, P = 0.02), taking a shower/bath (r = 0.36, P = 0.004), touching water (r = 0.35, P = 0.004), stepping out of a car (r = 0.32, P = 0.014), and experiencing an orgasm (r = 0.59, P = 0.001). The triggers: Experiencing an orgasm (r = 0.4, P = 0.033), having intercourse (r = 0.53, P = 0.002), stepping out of a car (r = 0.45, P = 0.001), and touching water (r = 0.28, P = 0.03) most significantly correlated with the total IIQ-7 scores. CONCLUSIONS: Certain somatic, psychological, and sexual factors may trigger OAB symptoms and are therefore potential targets for behavioral therapy of this disorder, and for further research regarding its pathophysiological mechanisms. KEYWORDS overactive bladder syndrome, quality of life, triggers 1 | INTRODUCTION Overactive bladder syndrome is defined as urinary urgency, usually accompanied by frequency and nocturia, with or without urgency urinary incontinence, in the absence of urinary tract infection or other obvious pathology. 1 In population-based studies, OAB prevalence ranged from 9 to 43% of all women. 2,3 Symptoms’ prevalence and severity tend to increase with age, 4 and might pose a significant burden on patients’ quality of life (QoL) in many aspects, including lower self-esteem, depression, and a negative impact on sexual function and marital life. 5,6 Storage LUTS, such as urgency and urge incontinence, frequency, and Hashim Hashim led the peer-review process as the Associate Editor responsible for the paper. Neurourology and Urodynamics 2017; 9999: 1–6 wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nau © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 1