Impact on quality of life of different lower urinary tract symptoms in men measured by means of the SF 36 questionnaire

Abstract

Objective: To describe how different lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) affect the quality of life (QOL) in men.

Material and methods: The study included 1008 men aged 40-80 years living in the community of Surahammar, Sweden who had answered a questionnaire concerning stress incontinence, urgency and post-micturition dribbling 12 months earlier. The occurrence and severity/frequency of 12 specific LUTS were assessed using the Danish Prostatic Symptom Score questionnaire. QOL was evaluated using the Short Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire.

Results: Post-micturition dribbling was the most frequently reported symptom (71%) and stress incontinence the least common (11%). Men who experienced urge, stress or "other incontinence" had lower mean scores for all of the eight dimensions measured by the SF-36 than men without such symptoms. Furthermore, men who experienced a moderate/severe degree of weak stream or nocturia reported a poorer QOL for all dimensions compared to men with a mild level of the same symptoms. QOL was found to decrease with increasing age. Men aged 66-80 years with "other incontinence" reported lower mean SF-36 scores for physical functioning, role physical, role emotional, social functioning and body pain than 40-65-year-old men.

Conclusions: LUTS in men affect QOL dimensions differently. Storage symptoms appear to reduce QOL more than voiding and post-micturition symptoms. Urinary incontinence affected all eight of the dimensions evaluated. Elderly men with LUTS reported a lower QOL than younger men.