The Correlation of Symptoms Severity and Objective Measures in Patients with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the correlation between international prostate symptom score (IPSS) and objective measures of lower urinary tract symptoms to estimate the grade of infravesical obstruction in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Methods: The data of 152 male patients examined in urology outpatient clinic with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) were retrospectively rewieved between January 2010 and December 2011. Prostate volume, detrusor wall thickness (DWT) and post voiding residue (PVR) were evaluated with suprapubic ultrasound. The patients were distributed in three groups according to IPSS values; 1st, lower IPSS group (n=39), 2nd, moderate IPSS group (n=80) and 3rd, .higher IPSS group (n=33). IPSS, BWT, prostate volume, postvoiding residue (PVR), and maximum urine flow (Qmax) values were compared. Results: The mean age was 52.9 ±9.0 years. There were significant differences between the three groups for total PSA, in terms of prostate volume, DWT, PVR, Qmax, Qave values. There was a significant correlation between IPSS questionnaire results and PVR, Qmax and Qave (P< 0.05). PVR, Qmax and PVR values revealed especially strong positive correlations with symptoms severity or IPSS (Pearson /Spearman’s correlation coefficients were 0.441; p < 0.000 and 0.446; p < 0.000 respectively; Table 3). Conclusions: There are significant correlations between symptoms severity (IPSS) and objective BPH-related parameters, such as age, PSA, prostate volume, DWT, PVR, Qmax, Qave and QoL. The measurements of especially DWT, PVR and Qmax are promising noninvasive tools to predict the grade of LUTS in men and is reflected in IPSS severity.