NATURAL-HISTORY OF PROSTATISM - LONGITUDINAL CHANGES IN VOIDING SYMPTOMS IN COMMUNITY-DWELLING MEN

Purpose: We report the results of 3 contacts during 42 months of The O lmsted County Study of Urinary Symptoms and Health Status Among Men, a longitudinal cohort study of men 40 to 79 years old that was initiate d in 1990 to describe changes in lower urinary tract symptom severity. Materials and Methods: At baseline and followup, men completed questi onnaires that elicited urinary symptom severity with questions nearly identical to those of the American Urological Association symptom inde x. Results: Overall, there was an average increase in American Urologi cal Association symptom index of approximately 0.18 (95% confidence in terval 0.13 to 0.24) points per year of followup. The average annual s ymptom score slope and variability in slope increased with patient age at baseline from a mean of 0.05 +/- 1.06 (standard deviation) per yea r among men in the forties to 0.44 +/- 1.35 per year for men in the si xties, and decreased to 0.14 +/- 1.42 per year for men in the seventie s. The age-related changes in symptom severity mirror previous estimat es of prostatic growth from autopsy prevalence studies. Conclusions: T hese results demonstrate a slow but measurable progression in urinary symptom severity among community dwelling men for 42 months of followu p.