title: Assessment of Proportion of Hidden Patients Having Symptoms of Overactive Bladder and Why Has It Been Hidden in Female Outpatients Admitted to Hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the proportion of patients with undetected symptoms of overactive bladder by using the overactive bladder-validated 8 (OAB-V8) screening questionnaire and investigate these symptoms were undetected in female patients who were hospitalized.
  
  
  METHODS
  We invited 2,250 female patients hospitalized in the Aegean region of Turkey to answer a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions on evidence of lower urinary tract symptoms (OAB-V8), relevant medical history, and demographic data. Patients with a total OAB-V8 score≥8 were defined as having OAB symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportion of patients with OAB symptoms in this study was 40.6%. Nearly 57% of the patients with OAB symptoms had not been previously admitted to any hospital for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). The two most common reasons why women with OAB symptoms did not admit themselves to a hospital because of LUTS were as follows: "I did not think I had a disease" and "The symptoms did not bother me," with a response rate of 74.7%. The mean OAB-V8 scores of the patients with these two responses were significantly lower than those of the other patients (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to demonstrate a significant proportion of women with undetected OAB symptoms. The main reasons the women did not admit themselves to a hospital were their unawareness of the disease and because the LUTS were not bothersome. Public awareness programs on this disease may resolve this problem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Celal Bayar University, Faculty of Medicine, Manisa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Oktay
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7912-0408
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Üçer
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Medicine, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ömer
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Demir
authors.affiliation: Urology Clinic, Uşak State Hospital, Uşak, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Fatih
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Zeren
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, İzmir Bozyaka Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yasin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ceylan
authors.affiliation: Urology Clinic, Acıpayam State Hospital, Denizli, Turkey.
authors.forename: İlker
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Çelen
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Pamukkale University, Faculty of Medicine, Denizli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali Ersin
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Zümrütbaş
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Celal Bayar University, Faculty of Medicine, Manisa, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gökhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Temeltaş
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Dokuz Eylül University, Faculty of Medicine, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bozkurt
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, İzmir Bozyaka Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bülent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Günlüsoy
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, İzmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Orçun
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Çelik
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, İzmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gökhan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ekin
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, İzmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey.
authors.forename: Oğuz
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mertoğlu
keywords: Diagnosis; Symptoms; Urinary Bladder, Overactive