Male Urinary Symptoms May Indicate Mortality Risk Over Time

TUESDAY, May 3, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Moderate-to-severe male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are associated with an increased risk of death during long-term follow-up, according to a study published online April 26 in The Journal of Urology.

Jonne Åkerla, M.D., from Tampere University Hospital in Finland, and colleagues evaluated LUTS-associated mortality among Finnish men. Analysis included responses from 1,167 men (aged 50, 60, and 70 years in 1994), with repeat surveys conducted in 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2015.

The researchers observed an association for increased mortality with overall voiding and storage LUTS, daytime frequency, and urgency incontinence, with adjusted hazard ratios of 1.19 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.00 to 1.40), 1.35 (1.13 to 1.62), 1.31 (1.09 to 1.58) and 2.19 (1.42 to 3.37), respectively, when limited to moderate and severe symptoms. When disregarding symptom severity and bother, voiding LUTS were associated with decreased mortality (HR, 0.82; 95 percent CI, 0.67 to 1.00), while daytime frequency and nocturia were associated with increased mortality (HRs, 1.31 [95 percent CI, 1.09 to 1.58] and 1.52 [95 percent CI, 1.21 to 1.91], respectively). When examining bothersome daytime frequency and nocturia, excess mortality tended to be slightly higher (HRs, 1.86 [95 percent CI, 1.41 to 2.47] and 1.88 [95 percent CI, 1.38 to 2.58], respectively).

"The lack of association between symptom bother and mortality possibly reinforces the very subjective nature of bother as a construct compared to more objectively measured symptom severity," the authors write.

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