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. 2024 Jul;31(7):747-754.
doi: 10.1111/iju.15454. Epub 2024 Mar 21.

Prevalence and impact on daily life of lower urinary tract symptoms in Japan: Results of the 2023 Japan Community Health Survey (JaCS 2023)

Takahiko Mitsui  1   2 , Noritoshi Sekido  1   3 , Naoya Masumori  1   4 , Nobuhiro Haga  1   5 , Kenji Omae  1   6 , Motoaki Saito  1   7 , Yasue Kubota  1   8 , Ryuji Sakakibara  1   9 , Mikako Yoshida  1   10 , Satoru Takahashi  1   11
Affiliations

Prevalence and impact on daily life of lower urinary tract symptoms in Japan: Results of the 2023 Japan Community Health Survey (JaCS 2023)

Takahiko Mitsui et al. Int J Urol. 2024 Jul.

Abstract

Objectives: A large-scale nationwide epidemiological survey of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) was conducted via the Internet in 2023 to clarify the current prevalence of LUTS and evaluate its impact on daily life in Japan.

Methods: The survey was conducted among individuals aged 20-99 years old who had anonymously registered with a Japanese online research company. The survey consisted of 48 questions related to LUTS and daily life.

Results: A total of 6210 participants (3088 females and 3122 males), who were selected by probability sampling based on the composition of the Japanese population (age range: 20-99), were recruited. The overall prevalence of LUTS was 77.9% among the subjects aged ≥20 and 82.5% among those aged ≥40. The prevalence of LUTS differed between the sexes and trends toward significant increases in prevalence with age were seen for almost all LUTS. Furthermore, the prevalence of overactive bladder (OAB) was 11.9% among the subjects aged ≥20 and 13.8% among those aged ≥40. This study also showed that LUTS negatively affected daily life. However, the percentage of subjects who visited a physician to receive treatment for LUTS was low, including for participants with a history of treatment for LUTS, although this increased with age.

Conclusion: The prevalence of LUTS, including OAB, increased with age and negatively affected daily life. However, since the percentage of patients who visit a physician to receive treatment for LUTS remains low, further educational activities regarding LUTS are necessary.

Keywords: JaCS 2023; LUTS; OAB; daily life; super‐aging society.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Prevalence of LUTS. The overall prevalence of LUTS was 77.9% (females: 76.5%, males: 79.4%) among the subjects aged ≥20 years, and 82.5% (females: 80.1%, males: 85.0%) among those aged ≥40 years. The prevalence of LUTS gradually increased with age.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Prevalence of OAB. The prevalence of OAB symptoms was 11.9% (males: 13.9%, females: 9.8%) in the subjects aged ≥20 years and 13.8% (males: 16.6%, females: 11.0%) in those aged ≥40 years. Although there was no difference in the prevalence of OAB symptoms among the participants under 40 years of age, they were more common in males aged ≥50 years.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Impact of LUTS on daily life. The global impacts of LUTS on daily life in males and females are shown. The percentage of subjects reporting that LUTS had a negative impact increased with age.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Symptoms with the greatest impact on daily life. Among LUTS, nocturia was reported to have the greatest impact on daily life most often, which means that nocturia was the most distressing symptom in both males and females in all age groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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