Professor Suzanne Hagen
Professor of Health Services Research, NMAHP
Suzanne Hagen is a Chartered Statistician, Professor of Health Services Research in the School of Health and Life Sciences, and Deputy Director of the Chief Scientist Office funded Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions Research Unit (NMAHP RU). She co-leads the Ageing Well Research Group (AWRG) and her research contributes mainly to AWRG’s “PELvIC floor And continence” (PELICAN) hub.
Suzanne’s research interests lie in the area of developing and evaluating complex interventions and the measurement of health outcomes. Clinical areas of research interest relate to pelvic health, including pelvic organ prolapse, bladder, bowel and sexual dysfunction, and the role of non-surgical management of these conditions. Methodologically, her expertise is in systematic reviews and multi-centre randomised controlled trials.
Recently completed projects include a multicentre trial of EMG biofeedback for the treatment of female urinary incontinence (OPAL: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/2/e024152). Ongoing projects include the TOPSY trial, evaluating the effectiveness of pessary self-management for prolapse (https://w3.abdn.ac.uk/hsru/TOPSY/Public/Public/index.cshtml), and the ProLong20+ study, estimating the prevalence of pelvic floor dysfunction in a cohort of over 5,000 women who gave birth in 1993/94. A newly-funded NIHR HTA trial of an innovative urinary catheter design commences in September 2021, randomising 276 long-term catheter users to use the Optitip catheter or the standard Foley catheter for 12 months.
Current doctoral supervision topics include the promotion of bladder health self-care in older adults, and the costs of managing incontinence.
Suzanne is an adjunct assistant Professor at the School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, USA, and a Statistical Editor for the Cochrane Incontinence Review Group. She co-leads, with the National University of Samoa, an Academy of Medical Science funded network to promote awareness and treatment of pelvic floor dysfunction in the Pacific Islands.
Research Interests: trials; systematic reviews; statistics; pelvic health; prolapse; incontinence; constipation; PROMS.