HIGH PREVALENCE OF VOIDING SYMPTOMS IN TAIWANESE WOMEN

Objective To describe the voiding symptoms of Taiwanese women using th e International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS). Subjects and methods A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on dem ographic characteristics and the IPSS used to determine the voiding sy mptoms of 583 consecutive women undergoing a health examination. The s ymptom stores of different age groups were compared using a one-way an alysis of variance with a posteriori comparisons made using Scheffe's test. Results The seven symptom scores could be separated by factor an alysis into two factors which corresponded with obstructive (incomplet e emptying, intermittency, weak stream, and hesitancy) and irritative (frequency, urgency, and nocturia) symptoms. Various degrees of freque ncy and nocturia were commonly reported by the respondents, whereas ob structive symptoms were infrequently reported, except in the elderly ( age greater than or equal to 65 years). The irritative scores, obstruc tive scores and total scores increased significantly with age (all P<0 .001), The total symptom scores correlated significantly with the qual ity-of-life store (Pearson's r=0.70, P<0.001). Overall, 124 (21%) of t he respondents reported an IPSS of > 7, and 98 (17%) of the respondent s reported being 'mostly dissatisfied' with their urination. However, only nine (1.5%) of the respondents had ever consulted a urologist abo ut their voiding problems. Conclusions There was an age-dependent chan ge in voiding symptoms in these Taiwanese women. The prevalence of voi ding symptoms in women is much higher than encountered in clinical pra ctice.