Impact of voiding and incontinence symptoms on health-related quality of life in serbian male population

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the impact of lower urinary tract symptoms on health-related quality of life (QoL) in Serbian population considering socio-demographic characteristics, habits, and health status. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in the Primary Healthcare Center «Novi Beograd», Serbia. The study included 1424 male participants, aged 40 years and above. QoL was assessed by using the -36Item Short Form Health Survey (SF36-) questionnaire, while voiding and incontinence symptoms were measured using the International Continence Society Male Short Form (ICS male SF) questionnaire. Results: Voiding and incontinence symptoms significantly correlate with all domains of QoL. Voiding and incontinence symptoms have a high influence on general health, social functioning, physical functioning and body pain. After adjusting for age and education, voiding and incontinence symptoms had a similar influence on QoL. In the multivariate model the influence of cardiovascular diseases and income on QoL was lower than voiding and incontinence symptoms.. Conclusion: Voiding and incontinence symptoms affect QoL domains differently. Incontinence symptoms have a greater impact on QoL than voiding symptoms.