Association between urinary symptoms and quality of life in HTLV-1 infected subjects without myelopathy.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between urinary symptoms and quality of life of patients infected with HTLV-1.


METHODS
This is a cross-sectional study that enrolled individuals with HTLV-1 positive serology from February 2010 to March 2011. Participants were HTLV-1 infected subjects followed in the HTLV-1 clinic of the University Hospital in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. Patients with HTLV-1 associated myelopathy / tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), who had evidence of other neurological diseases, diabetes mellitus or were pregnant were excluded from the study. The questionnaire SF-36 was used to evaluate quality of life and the questionnaire OAB-V8 was used to evaluate urinary symptoms.


RESULTS
From the 118 individuals evaluated, 50 (42.4%) complained of urinary symptoms and 68 (57.6%) did not. Most participants were females. There was no difference between the groups regarding demographic variables. The group with symptoms showed significantly lower scores in all domains of the SF-36 questionnaire. The domains with greatest differences were vitality and general health state.


CONCLUSIONS
Urinary symptoms negatively influence the quality of life of individuals infected with HTLV-1.
Department of Physiotherapy, Professor Edgard Santos, University Hospital Complex, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Rosana
R
Andrade
Davi
D
Tanajura
Deise
D
Santana
Dislene dos
Dd
Santos
Edgar M
EM
Carvalho
D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015490:HTLV-I Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D059411:Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D001743:Urinary Bladder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D053201:Urinary Bladder, Overactive / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*