Prevalence and characteristics of lower urinary tract symptoms in men aged > or = 80 years.
OBJECTIVE
We analyzed the prevalence and characteristics of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in community-dwelling men aged 80 years and older.


METHODS
We administered the American Urological Association Symptom Index (AUA-SI) by mail to 291 surviving community-dwelling male participants in the Rancho Bernardo Study, a prospective, community-based study of aging. We compared the prevalence, severity, and types of LUTS occurring in men who were > or = 80 years to those < 80 years.


RESULTS
The mean age was 74.6 years (standard deviation [SD] 8.9, range 48.3-97.1). One third of the respondents were > or = 80 years. The mean total AUA-SI score increased steadily by decade of life (P-trend = .002). The prevalence of LUTS was 70% in men > or = 80 years and 56% in men < 80 years (P = .03). Men > or = 80 years had significantly higher mean total AUA-SI (P = .05) and were more likely to complain of incomplete emptying (odds ratio [OR] 2.12, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.06-4.18, P = .02), frequency (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.00-3.31, P = .03), urgency (OR 1.76, 95% CI 0.96-3.20, P = .05), and weak stream (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.01-3.12, P = .03).


CONCLUSIONS
In this cohort of community-dwelling men, prevalence and severity of LUTS increased into the 10th decade of life. Compared to younger men, men > or = 80 years were more likely to complain of incomplete emptying, frequency, urgency, and weak stream. Further studies of LUTS in older men are needed to better delineate these associations.
Division of Urology, University of California, San Diego, Medical Center, San Diego, California 92103-8897, USA. leparker@ucsd.edu
J Kellogg
JK
Parsons
Jaclyn
J
Bergstrom
Jonathan
J
Silberstein
Elizabeth
E
Barrett-Connor
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014555:Urination Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*