THE INTERNATIONAL CONTINENCE SOCIETY BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA STUDY - THE BOTHERSOMENESS OF URINARY SYMPTOMS

Purpose: We assessed the bothersomeness of lower urinary tract symptom s as reported by men, and investigated relationships among occurrence, degree of problem caused and age. Materials and Methods: Questionnair e data from 1,271 men presenting with lower urinary tract symptoms in 12 countries were analyzed. Statistical methods included distributions , cross tabulations, chi-square analysis and Spearman's rank correlati on coefficients. Results: Although prevalence and bothersomeness were moderately positively related, voiding symptoms were the most prevalen t whereas the most bothersome were predominantly storage symptoms, inc luding. incontinence. While prevalence showed a broadly decreasing tre nd with age, bothersomeness was relatively unrelated to age. Conclusio ns: These findings suggest that symptom occurrence alone does not nece ssarily reflect the degree to which patients are bothered by lower uri nary tract symptoms. Therefore, when deciding on treatment it is impor tant not only to consider the presence and frequency of lower urinary tract symptoms but also the bother that they cause.