TY - JOUR
T1 - The Spectrum of Bladder Health
T2 - The Relationship between Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Interference with Activities
AU - Sutcliffe, Siobhan
AU - Bavendam, Tamara
AU - Cain, Charles
AU - Epperson, C. Neill
AU - Fitzgerald, Colleen M.
AU - Gahagan, Sheila
AU - Markland, Alayne D.
AU - Shoham, David A.
AU - Smith, Ariana L.
AU - Townsend, Mary K.
AU - Rudser, Kyle
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright 2019, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2019.
PY - 2019/6/1
Y1 - 2019/6/1
N2 - Background: Little research to date has focused on lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS) prevention and bladder health promotion in women. To address this gap, the Prevention of LUTS Research Consortium developed the following working bladder health definition: "A complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being related to bladder function [that] permits daily activities [and] allows optimal well-being." To begin to inform and quantify this definition, we used data from the Boston Area Community Health Survey, drawing upon its rare collection of information on LUTS and LUTS-specific interference with activities. Methods: At baseline, participants reported their frequency of 15 LUTS and interference with 7 activities. Prevalence ratios (PRs) were calculated by generalized linear models with robust variance estimation, adjusting for LUTS risk factors and individual LUTS. Results: Of the 3169 eligible participants, 17.5% reported no LUTS or interference, whereas the remaining 82.5% reported some frequency of LUTS/interference: 15.1% rarely; 21.7% a few times; 22.6% fairly often/usually; and 22.9% almost always. LUTS independently associated with interference were urgency incontinence, any incontinence, urgency, nocturia, perceived frequency, and urinating again after <2 hours (PRs = 1.2-1.5, all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that bladder health exists on a continuum, with approximately one in five women considered to have optimal bladder health (no LUTS/interference), the majority to have intermediate health (LUTS/interference rarely to usually), and a further one in five to have worse or poor health (LUTS/interference almost always). These findings underscore the need for LUTS prevention and bladder health promotion.
AB - Background: Little research to date has focused on lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS) prevention and bladder health promotion in women. To address this gap, the Prevention of LUTS Research Consortium developed the following working bladder health definition: "A complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being related to bladder function [that] permits daily activities [and] allows optimal well-being." To begin to inform and quantify this definition, we used data from the Boston Area Community Health Survey, drawing upon its rare collection of information on LUTS and LUTS-specific interference with activities. Methods: At baseline, participants reported their frequency of 15 LUTS and interference with 7 activities. Prevalence ratios (PRs) were calculated by generalized linear models with robust variance estimation, adjusting for LUTS risk factors and individual LUTS. Results: Of the 3169 eligible participants, 17.5% reported no LUTS or interference, whereas the remaining 82.5% reported some frequency of LUTS/interference: 15.1% rarely; 21.7% a few times; 22.6% fairly often/usually; and 22.9% almost always. LUTS independently associated with interference were urgency incontinence, any incontinence, urgency, nocturia, perceived frequency, and urinating again after <2 hours (PRs = 1.2-1.5, all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that bladder health exists on a continuum, with approximately one in five women considered to have optimal bladder health (no LUTS/interference), the majority to have intermediate health (LUTS/interference rarely to usually), and a further one in five to have worse or poor health (LUTS/interference almost always). These findings underscore the need for LUTS prevention and bladder health promotion.
KW - health promotion
KW - incontinence
KW - prevention
KW - public health
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U2 - 10.1089/jwh.2018.7364
DO - 10.1089/jwh.2018.7364
M3 - Article
C2 - 31058573
AN - SCOPUS:85067613671
SN - 1540-9996
VL - 28
SP - 827
EP - 841
JO - Journal of Women's Health
JF - Journal of Women's Health
IS - 6
ER -