Impact of obesity on urinary storage symptoms: Results from the FINNO Study - Abstract

PURPOSE: Urinary storage symptoms are the most common and most bothersome urinary symptoms.

Many studies on the relation between body weight and urinary symptoms have focused on urinary incontinence in women. We evaluated the association of obesity with urinary storage symptoms in a population-based study of men and women, aged 18-79.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Questionnaires were mailed to 6,000 adults randomly identified from the Finnish Population Register. Self-reported height and weight were used to calculate body mass index (BMI). Urinary frequency, nocturia, urgency, stress urinary incontinence (SUI), and urgency urinary incontinence (UUI) were assessed using validated instruments. Multivariate logistic regression analyses (adjusted for age, comorbidity, medications, socio-demographic, lifestyle, and reproductive factors) were performed to evaluate associations between BMI and each symptom.

RESULTS: Of the 6,000 individuals approached, 3,727 participated (62.4% response; 53.7% women). In men and women, obesity was associated with nocturia (adjusted OR 2.0 [95% CI: 1.2-3.3] for men; OR 2.4 [1.5-3.8] for women) but not with urgency (adjusted OR 1.2 [0.7-2.3] for men: OR 1.2 [0.7-2.1] for women). In men, obesity was also associated with urinary frequency (OR 2.0 [1.0-3.9]), and in women with SUI (OR 1.9 [1.2-3.0]) and UUI (OR 3.0 [1.2-7.4] whereas the number of men with SUI or UUI was insufficient for precise analyses.

CONCLUSIONS: This study extends previous research by providing symptom-specific associations between obesity and urinary storage symptoms in a population-based sample of men and women. Obesity impacts individual urinary storage symptoms differently, and these associations may be influenced by gender.

Written by:
Vaughan CP, Auvinen A, Cartwright R, Johnson TM 2nd, Tähtinen RM, Ala-Lipasti MA, Tammela TL, Markland AD, Thorlund K, Tikkinen KA.   Are you the author?
Dept. of Veterans Affairs Birmingham/Atlanta Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Atlanta, GA, USA; Dept. of Medicine, Div. of General Medicine and Geriatrics, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Reference: J Urol. 2012 Oct 23. pii: S0022-5347(12)05336-0.
doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2012.10.058


PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23103801

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