Early onset of fesoterodine efficacy in subjects with overactive bladder

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Fesoterodine is an effective treatment for overactive bladder. However, the length of time until the effects begin to be seen was not known. The study demonstrates that the effect of Fesoterodine 4 mg on overactive bladder symptoms can be seen at one week. OBJECTIVE To assess the onset of efficacy of fesoterodine 4 mg once daily on overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms after 1 week of treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS This was a prespecified analysis of data collected during the first week of a 12-week, open-label, single-arm, flexible-dose study of fesoterodine. Eligible subjects were adult men and women (aged >= 18 years) who reported urinary frequency (eight or more micturitions per 24 h) and urgency (three or more episodes per 24 h) in 5-day bladder diaries at baseline, and dissatisfaction with previous tolterodine or tolterodine extended-release treatment received within 2 years of screening. All subjects received fesoterodine 4 mg once daily during the first 4 weeks of treatment (with an optional dose increase to fesoterodine 8 mg after week 4). Early onset of efficacy of fesoterodine 4 mg was assessed based on changes from baseline to week 1 in variables recorded in 5-day bladder diaries, including total micturitions, urgency episodes, urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) episodes and nocturnal micturitions. Urgency and severe urgency episodes were defined as those rated >= 3 and >= 4, respectively, on the five-point Urinary Sensation Scale (USS) (1 = no urgency, 5 = UUI); frequency-urgency sum (a combined measure of micturition frequency and urgency) was defined as the sum of all USS ratings. RESULTS All bladder diary variables, including total and nocturnal micturitions, UUI episodes, urgency episodes, severe urgency episodes and frequency-urgency sum per 24 h, were significantly improved (all P < 0.0001) after 1 week of treatment with fesoterodine 4 mg compared to baseline. The diary-dry rate at week 1 (i.e. subjects with at least one UUI episode at baseline who subsequently reported no UUI episodes on week 1 diary) was 38%. CONCLUSION In this open-label study of subjects with OAB who had been previously treated and dissatisfied with tolterodine, fesoterodine 4 mg showed a rapid onset of efficacy at 1 week.