THE INTERNATIONAL CONTINENCE SOCIETY BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA STUDY - INTERNATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN LOWER URINARY-TRACT SYMPTOMS AND RELATED BOTHER

Purpose: We investigated the international differences in the reportin g of lower urinary tract symptoms and related bother in patients with symptoms suggestive of bladder outlet obstruction. Materials and Metho ds: Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate interna tional differences in the reporting of lower urinary tract symptoms an d related bother in 1,271 patients from 12 countries who participated in the International Continence Society ''benign prostatic hyperplasia '' study. Results: Country of origin was significantly associated with the prevalence of a large number of lower urinary tract symptoms (10 of 20), even after adjusting for potentially confounding variables, in cluding physical and socio-demographic factors. Country of origin was also significantly associated with the reporting of bother but for a m uch smaller number of symptoms (2). Conclusions: In different countrie s lower urinary tract symptoms may be reported to different extents. T herefore, the results of studies in particular countries may not be ge nerally applicable to other countries. It is likely that symptom score s will conceal this variation, necessitating consideration of individu al symptoms (as in the International Continence Society ''benign prost atic hyperplasia'' study) or the development of country specific scori ng systems. An alternative would be to focus on bother, which appeared to be much less sensitive to international differences.