Characteristics of persons with overactive bladder of presumed neurologic origin: results from the Boston Area Community Health (BACH) survey.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the descriptive epidemiology of overactive bladder (OAB) of presumed neurologic origin (NOAB) to OAB of non-neurologic origin (N-NOAB).


METHODS
Five thousand five hundred three community-dwelling persons aged 30-79 were interviewed regarding urologic symptoms (2002-2005). NOAB was defined as symptoms of urgency and/or urgency incontinence among those with a self-reported history of healthcare provider diagnosed stroke (N = 98), multiple sclerosis (N = 21), or Parkinson's disease (N = 7). N-NOAB was defined identically but occurring among those not reporting neurologic disease (ND). Prevalence estimates were weighted to reflect sampling design; chi-square, Fisher's exact, or t-tests were used to test differences. Urologic symptom interference was assessed using the Epstein scale, while the impact of urinary incontinence (UI) on health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) was measured using a modification of the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7.


RESULTS
Forty-five (31.0%) of 125 persons with ND and 994 (16.7%) of 5378 persons without ND reported OAB symptoms. The overall prevalence of NOAB and N-NOAB was 0.6% and 16.4%, respectively. Persons with NOAB had higher (worse) mean American Urologic Association Symptom Index scores (13.0 vs. 10.0, P = 0.09) compared to those with N-NOAB, and were significantly more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiac disease, and fair/poor self-reported health (all P < 0.05). Mean symptom interference and UI HRQOL scores were significantly higher (worse) in the NOAB group compared to persons with N-NOAB (all P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Persons with NOAB appeared to have a greater burden of urologic illness with respect to symptom interference and HRQOL compared to persons with N-NOAB.
New England Research Institutes, Inc., Watertown, Massachusetts 02472, USA. shall@neriscience.com
Susan A
SA
Hall
Teresa M
TM
Curto
Ahunna
A
Onyenwenyi
Gary E
GE
Lemack
Sharon L
SL
Tennstedt
Carol L
CL
Link
John B
JB
McKinlay
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001900:Boston / Q000453:epidemiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015897:Comorbidity; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D020521:Stroke / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000294:innervation*; D001750:Urinary Bladder, Neurogenic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D053201:Urinary Bladder, Overactive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D014549:Urinary Incontinence / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D014563:Urodynamics