LAS VEGAS – Obese women report significantly greater lower urinary tract symptoms and worse overall quality of life than do obese men, results from a single-center study showed.
"Over one-third of U.S. adults are obese and 60% are considered overweight," Dr. Margarita M. Aponte said in a poster presented during the annual meeting of the American Urogynecologic Society. "In women, obesity is an independent risk factor for pelvic floor disorders, and in men, obesity has been associated with an increase in storage symptoms and benign prostatic hypertrophy."
Dr. Margarita Aponte
Dr. Aponte and her associates at New York University Langone Medical Center recruited 134 men and women who were planning to undergo laparoscopic-assisted gastric banding (LAGB). They collected demographic information and clinical data, and administered validated questionnaires preoperatively, including the Overactive Bladder Questionnaire (OAB-q), the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire–Short Form (ICIQ-SF), the Medical, Epidemiologic and Social aspects of Aging (MESA) scale, and the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), to evaluate lower urinary tract symptoms. The investigators also evaluated quality of life preoperatively with the King’s Health Questionnaire (KHQ). The purpose was to characterize and differentiate baseline lower urinary tract symptoms and quality of life scores in obese men and women who were undergoing LAGB.
Of the 134 patients, 92 (69%) were women and their mean age was 42 years. The researchers reported that on the OAB-Q, women had higher scores in symptom severity (P = .036), concern (P = .002), and health-related quality of life (P = .028) than did men. Increasing body mass index (BMI) was associated with greater concern (P = .024), social effects (P = .021), and total health-related quality of life scores (P = .051). Increasing age and having diabetes were associated with higher scores in almost all OAB-Q domains.
Compared with men, women also had a higher total International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire–Short Form score (P = .000) and International Prostate Symptom Score (P = .008), and increasing BMI was associated with incontinence severity in the ICIQ (P = .01).
On the King’s Health Questionnaire, women had higher scores in incontinence impact (P = .045), role limitations (P = .016), and severity (P = .000). Increasing BMI was associated with poor general health perception (P = .006), increased role limitations (P = .005), and severity (P = .002). In men, no association was observed between obesity, age, or the presence of diabetes and any of the KHQ domains.
The researchers said they had no relevant financial disclosures.