Ke. Eldin et al., THE CORRELATION BETWEEN BLADDER OUTLET OBSTRUCTION AND LOWER URINARY-TRACT SYMPTOMS AS MEASURED BY THE INTERNATIONAL PROSTATE SYMPTOM SCORE, The Journal of urology, 156(3), 1996, pp. 1020-1025
Purpose: We studied the relationship between lower urinary tract sympt
oms as measured by the international prostate symptom score (I-PSS) an
d urodynamic findings in elderly men. Materials and Methods: We evalua
ted 803 consecutive patients with lower urinary tract symptoms via the
I-PSS and urodynamics with pressure-flow studies. Results: A statisti
cally significant correlation was found between all I-PSS questions (e
xcept intermittency) and objective parameters of obstruction. However,
the clinical significance of this finding is minimal because a large
overlap of symptom scores exists among patients with different grades
of bladder outlet obstruction. The filling component of the I-PSS corr
elated somewhat better with obstruction than did the voiding component
. Conclusions: It seems impossible to diagnose bladder outlet obstruct
ion from symptoms alone. It does not even seem possible to define subg
roups in which further urodynamic examination is indicated.