Day Temperature Difference and Aggravation of Low Urinary Tract Symptom in Benign Prostate Hypertrophy Patients in Korea: A National Health Insurance Service-National Cohort-based Study

Abstract

To investigate the symptom deterioration of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) according to the difference in daily temperature. From the National Health Insurance Service database, we collected and analyzed data on patients with BPH in 6 major metropolitan areas in Korea between January 2008 and December 2017. We investigated the rate of emergency room visits as well as the rate of urethral catheter insertion. In total, 1,446,465 patients were enrolled in this study. When the daily temperature difference was below 4°C, 28.5 patients visited the emergency room daily, while 42.2 patients visited the emergency room daily when the daily temperature difference exceeded 14°C. When the daily temperature difference was more than 14°C, about 48.0% more patients visited the emergency room than when the daily temperature difference was below 4°C. After visiting the emergency room, there were 11.9 patients who had a catheter inserted daily at the daily temperature difference below 4°C. When the daily temperature difference was more than 14°C, the number of catheter insertion cases was 17.8 patients daily, which was 49.2% higher than that of below 4°C. By time, surgery was performed most frequently within 3 months after visiting the emergency room. Day temperature difference appear to be related to the Lower urinary tract symptom of BPH patients.