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A Population-based survey of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and symptom-specific bother: results from the Brazilian LUTS epidemiology study (BLUES)

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Abstract

Purpose

To examine the prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and the bother they impose in a population-based sample of adults in Brazil.

Methods

A cross-sectional population-based survey was conducted between September 2006 and January 2007 in the city of Salvador, Brazil. Cluster samples of representative households were randomly selected for interviews. A structured questionnaire was administered to men and women aged 30 years or older by trained interviewers. Participants were asked about the presence of individual LUTS using current International Continence Society (ICS) definitions and rated their symptom bother. Those with overactive bladder (OAB) also responded the OAB-Validated 8 and the Patient Perception of Bladder Condition questionnaires.

Results

Of 3,616 eligible subjects, 3,000 (83 %) participated (1,500 men and 1,500 women). OAB was present in 5.1 % of men and in 10 % of the women, while the prevalence of any LUTS was 81.5 and 84.1 %, respectively. The majority of subjects with OAB, 80 % of men and 78 % of women, reported some bother associated with their urgency symptoms. Overall, storage symptoms were more common than voiding or postmicturition symptoms. Women reported storage symptoms (76.4 %) more frequently than men (67.7 %), while the opposite was true for voiding (men 39.7 %, women 33.7 %) and postmicturition (men 30.9 %, women 12.8 %).

Conclusions

This is the largest population-based survey of LUTS in Brazil, using the 2002 ICS definitions. LUTS prevalence was high and increased with age among both genders in Brazil, whereas the rates of OAB were somewhat lower than previously reported. The high prevalence of urinary symptoms and the bother commonly associated with them highlight their importance to overall well-being.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to Tamara Bavendam for her contributions during the development stage of this research, to Lina Titievski for valuables comments on earlier versions of the manuscript, to Maria F. B. Souza, Mario F. B. Souza, Clivar D. Noronha, and Eliseu S. Ferreira for helping with logistic support and planning for the field work and data collection, and to Tatiane S. Dias for her administrative assistance. This study was funded by an unconditional research grant from Pfizer Inc., which played a role in and provided support for the study in the following ways: design and conduct of the study and collection of the data.

Conflict of interest

Edson Moreira is a scientific consultant to Pfizer and Merck. Dale Glasser was an employee of Pfizer Inc at the time the study was conducted. All the other co-authors have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Pesquisa Clínica, Associação Obras Sociais Irmã Dulce, Salvador, BA, Brazil

    Edson D. Moreira Jr., Raimundo C. S. Neves & Fernanda G. Duarte

  2. Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Moniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Brazilian Ministry of Health, Salvador, BA, Brazil

    Edson D. Moreira Jr., Raimundo C. S. Neves & Fernanda G. Duarte

  3. Departamento de Cirurgia, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, PR, Brazil

    Antônio Fernandes Neto

  4. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística, Salvador, BA, Brazil

    Teresinha L. Moreira & Carlos F. L. Lobo

  5. Pfizer Inc, New York, NY, USA

    Dale B. Glasser

  6. Division of Cancer Epidemiology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Edson D. Moreira Jr.

Authors
  1. Edson D. Moreira Jr.
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  2. Raimundo C. S. Neves
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  3. Antônio Fernandes Neto
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  5. Teresinha L. Moreira
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  6. Carlos F. L. Lobo
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  7. Dale B. Glasser
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Correspondence to Edson D. Moreira Jr..

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Moreira, E.D., Neves, R.C.S., Neto, A.F. et al. A Population-based survey of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and symptom-specific bother: results from the Brazilian LUTS epidemiology study (BLUES). World J Urol 31, 1451–1458 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00345-013-1057-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00345-013-1057-8

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