Ana Lesac Brizic*and Vladimir Mozetic
Background: Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS) are a public health problem. They can be very bothersome and worsen over time and may indicate numerous non-urological pathological conditions, as well as cause them. Large number of people is not aware of their LUTS. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate how LUTS affects the health related Quality of Life (hrQoL) in comparison to other morbidities.
Methods: This multimethodology study was conducted in Croatia by interviewing 444 subjects who reported to their GP and reviewing their medical records. We determined the presence of LUTS and whether the respondents were aware of it. HrQoL was assessed using SF12v2 questionnaire.
Results: HrQoL was lower in subjects with LUTS than in subject with impaired health due to other morbidities (p<0.0001). Among LUTS affected subjects, the ones who recognized their condition before an education about the clinical manifestations of LUTS had even lower hrQoL (p<0.0001). Subjects with LUTS had more comorbidities (p<0.0001).
Conclusions: LUTS strongly decreases hrQoL. The observed impairment of hrQoL could be prevented by educating primary health care patients to recognize LUTS early.