Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms and Mortality among Finnish Men: The Roles of Symptom Severity and Bother

The utility of male lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) as mortality risk factors remains unclear. We explored LUTS-associated mortality among Finnish men, evaluating the association of symptom severity and bother with risk of death.

A questionnaire including the Danish Prostatic Symptom Score was mailed to a population-based cohort of 3,143 men aged 50, 60 and 70 years in 1994, with repeat surveys in 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2015. The men were followed until the end of 2018. Mortality associated with LUTS was analyzed using time-dependent Cox regression adjusted for age and comorbidity, updating symptom data every 5 years, including interaction terms between symptoms and associated bother.

Of the 1,167 men in the analysis, 591 (50.6%) died during the 24-year followup. In analyses of moderate and severe symptoms disregarding bother, overall voiding and storage LUTS, daytime frequency and urgency incontinence were associated with increased mortality: the multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios were 1.19 (95% CI 1.00-1.40), 1.35 (1.13-1.62), 1.31 (1.09-1.58) and 2.19 (1.42-3.37), respectively. In analyses disregarding symptom severity and bother, voiding LUTS were associated with decreased mortality, while daytime frequency and nocturia were associated with increased mortality: the HRs were 0.82 (95% CI 0.67-1.00), 1.31 (95% CI 1.09-1.58) and 1.52 (95% CI 1.21-1.91), respectively. Excess mortality associated with bothersome daytime frequency and nocturia tended to be slightly higher: the HRs were 1.86 (95% CI 1.41-2.47) and 1.88 (95% CI 1.38-2.58), respectively. No significant interactions were found between symptoms and associated bother, however.

Moderate and severe LUTS are potential risk factors for mortality, independently of their bother.