Prevalence, severity, and health correlates of lower urinary tract symptoms among older men: the MrOS study.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the prevalence, severity, and health correlates of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in older community-dwelling U.S. men.


METHODS
We performed a cross-sectional analysis from a cohort study recruited from six U.S. clinical centers. This analysis included 5284 men without a history of prostate cancer who were at least 65 years of age. Participants completed questionnaires regarding the presence and severity of LUTS, including the American Urological Association Symptom and Bother indexes. Health status measures included the Medical Outcomes Survey SF-12 and self-rated health and instrumental activities of daily living.


RESULTS
LUTS were absent in 2.3%, mild in 51.6%, moderate in 39.6%, and severe in 6.6%. Dissatisfaction with the urinary symptoms increased with LUTS severity (P <0.001); 19.8% of moderate and 58.1% of men with severe LUTS reported feeling mostly unsatisfied to terrible with their present urinary symptoms. The prevalence, severity, and dissatisfaction with LUTS increased with age. Men reporting moderate or severe LUTS were 1.41-fold (95% confidence interval 1.23 to 1.61) and 1.51-fold (95% confidence interval 1.23 to 1.85) more likely to rate their overall health quality as fair to very poor for their age instead of good to excellent, even after controlling for age and comorbid conditions. Increased LUTS also was independently associated with increased impairment in instrumental activities of daily living and poorer SF-12 scores.


CONCLUSIONS
Moderate-to-severe LUTS is common in community-dwelling elderly U.S. men. In this study, LUTS severity was associated with poorer health quality and a greater prevalence of an inability to perform activities of daily living. The association of LUTS severity with poor health warrants increased clinical attention.
Taylor
Brent C
BC
Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55417, USA.
Wilt
Timothy J
TJ
Fink
Howard A
HA
Lambert
Lori C
LC
Marshall
Lynn M
LM
Hoffman
Andrew R
AR
Beer
Tomasz M
TM
Bauer
Douglas C
DC
Zmuda
Joseph M
JM
Orwoll
Eric S
ES
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014555:Urination Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*