The prevalence of healthy bladder storage and emptying function in community-dwelling women is not well established.
A planned secondary analysis of a US cross-sectional study designed to validate a bladder health instrument was conducted in women aged ≥18 years. A subset was invited to complete the novel 2-day bladder health diary capturing bladder storage and emptying experiences. Overall healthy bladder function was defined as ≤8 waking/daytime voids and ≤1 void during sleeping/nighttime; along with the absence of leakage, urgency, emptying difficulties (initiation, flow, efficacy, relief of urge sensation) and pain. Descriptive statistics of healthy bladder functions and regression models of factors associated with healthy function are reported.
Of the 383 invited, 237 (62%) eligible women returned complete dairies. Of these, 12% (29/237) met criteria for overall healthy bladder function. Most (96%) denied pain, 74% had healthy daytime and 83% had healthy nighttime voiding frequency, 64% were continent, 36% reported healthy emptying and 30% denied any urgency episodes. Middle income (odds ratio [OR]:95% confidence interval [CI] = 11.4:1.9-67.4 for $75k-$99 999 vs. $25 000-$49 999), Graduate education (4.8:1.4-17) and previously seeking treatment for bladder problems (OR:95%CI = 0.1; 0-0.9) were associated with overall healthy function.
The prevalence of overall healthy bladder function was very low based on our strict definition of health as measured on a 2-day diary. However, most women had healthy voiding frequency and denied pain or urinary leakage. Postvoid dribbling and urgency most commonly contributed to an overall unhealthy bladder. Further investigation is needed to determine whether these diary derived measures are meaningful for patient-oriented bladder health research.
Neurourology and urodynamics. 2023 Mar 09 [Epub ahead of print]
Emily S Lukacz, Chloe Falke, Julia Geynisman-Tan, Jean F Wyman, Elizabeth R Mueller, Alayne D Markland, Leslie Rickey, Jerry L Lowder, Kyle Rudser, Lisa Kane Low, Diane K Newman, Prevention of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (PLUS) Research Consortium
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA., Division of Biostatistics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA., School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA., Departments of Urology & Obstetrics/Gynecology, Loyola University Medical Center, Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois, USA., Department of Medicine, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care, Birmingham/Atlanta Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA., Departments of Urology & Obstetrics/Gynecology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri, USA., School of Nursing, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA., Division of Urology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA., National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), Bethesda, Maryland, USA.