Abstract
BackgroundLower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) including frequency, nocturia, urgency, and incontinence, are common in women and cause significant discomfort in daily life. However, diagnosis and treatment of LUTS are often delayed because many patients with such symptoms do not complain to the physician of discomfort and do not seek medical attention. LUTS are known to be associated with muscle weakness. We investigated the association between grip strength and LUTS in women of different ages.Methods This study included 4225 women (mean age 48.6 years) who underwent self-referred health screening between April 2015 and December 2019. LUTS were evaluated using a self-reported questionnaire, and the overactive bladder symptom score was used to screen for an overactive bladder. Low muscle strength was defined as a hand grip strength of < 18 kg (decreased grip strength).ResultsWe observed decreased grip strength in 13.7% (n = 580) of the participants. Nocturia, urgency, incontinence, and overactive bladder were more common in women with decreased grip strength than in women with normal grip strength. After adjusting for age, comorbidities (hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia), smoking status, alcohol consumption, regular exercise, and stress, nocturia (odds ratio [OR] 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01–1.52), urinary incontinence (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.01–1.72), and an overactive bladder (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.35–2.27) were significantly associated with decreased grip strength.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that LUTS, especially nocturia, incontinence, and an overactive bladder are associated with decreased grip strength in women. Therefore, physicians should be aware that patients may not seek help, even if they are uncomfortable, and it is important to obtain a detailed medical history and perform additional tests, even in the absence of complaints, in patients with low grip strength, who are at high risk of LUTS.
Highlights
Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) including frequency, nocturia, urgency, and incontinence, are common in women and cause significant discomfort in daily life
Association between grip strength and LUTS Nocturia, urgency, and incontinence were more common in the decreased grip strength group than in the intact grip strength group (P < 0.001)
Decreased grip strength was associated with overactive bladder (OAB) (P < 0.001)
Summary
Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) including frequency, nocturia, urgency, and incontinence, are common in women and cause significant discomfort in daily life. Diagnosis and treatment of LUTS are often delayed because many patients with such symptoms do not complain to the physician of discomfort and do not seek medical attention. We investigated the association between grip strength and LUTS in women of different ages. Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are common in women of all ages worldwide, the prevalence of symptoms differs across various study groups. The most important aspect of the diagnosis is identifying symptoms since the majority of patients do not report their discomfort [6]. For patients who are at a high risk of developing LUTS, it is important to obtain their detailed medical history and conduct further examinations before they complain about their symptoms
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