Longitudinal changes in symptom-based female and male LUTS clusters

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Clinical Research
• Patient Outcomes

Background:

• Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) present with diverse types and variable severity.
• Understanding symptom trajectories and treatment responses in LUTS patients is crucial for effective management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine symptom change over time in patients within the Symptoms of the Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction Research Network (LURN) Observational Cohort study.
• To identify distinct patient clusters based on LUTS progression.
• To test associations between cluster membership and treatments received.

Main Methods:

• Collected patient-reported LUTS and treatment data at multiple time points (baseline to 12 months) from the LURN Observational Cohort.
• Calculated LUTS severity scores to track symptom changes over time within identified LURN clusters.
• Employed repeated measures linear regression models to assess associations between cluster membership and severity scores.

Main Results:

• 417 men and 396 women were analyzed, with symptom improvement observed in 44.1% of men and 55.8% of women within 12 months.
• LUTS symptom improvement varied significantly across clusters, with adjusted mean changes ranging from -0.04 to -0.67 standard deviations.
• Prostate surgery correlated with improved LUTS severity in men (-0.63 ΔSD), while stress incontinence surgery improved scores in women (-0.88 ΔSD).

Conclusions:

• Symptom improvement in LUTS patients is cluster-dependent, suggesting differential responses to therapy among patient subtypes.
• Observed variations in patient improvement across clusters indicate potential underlying mechanistic differences.
• These findings may facilitate the development of more targeted treatment strategies for specific LUTS patient subgroups.