AGING AND THE LOWER URINARY-TRACT

Lower urinary tract symptoms and disorders are prevalent and bothersom e in the rapidly growing aging population. Common symptoms include uri nary frequency, nocturia, urgency, and incontinence. Among older men, symptoms of voiding difficulty, such as hesitancy, slow stream, and st raining, are also common. A variety of aging changes, as well as age-a ssociated disease, predispose older people to the development of lower urinary tract symptoms. Medications used to treat conditions outside the lower urinary tract also can contribute to these symptoms. Physici ans and other health professionals should routinely ask specific quest ions about lower urinary tract symptoms in their older patients and ev aluate them thoroughly when they are present.