Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2025
Real-Time Void Spot Assay
Published on: February 10, 2023
Frailty and urinary symptoms share pathophysiological mechanisms involved in disease progression in people with
Angelo Di Santo1, Leonardo Malimpensa2, Marco Canevelli3
1University of Rome "Foro Italic", Via dei Robilant 1, Rome, 00135, Italy.
Background:
Urinary symptoms represent a significant source of distress and disability in multiple sclerosis (MS), but the factors influencing their occurrence and exacerbation remain unclear. Frailty has been proposed as a measure of clinical complexity in MS and has been associated with its main phenotypic manifestations. The present study investigated the relationship between frailty and the presence and burden of urinary symptoms in MS.
Materials And Methods:
The present study considered 149 outpatients. The presence of urinary symptoms was systematically explored. Frailty was assessed using a 40-item Frailty Index (FI). Participants with urinary symptoms underwent a urinary evaluation, including the 8-item overactive bladder questionnaire, the Urinary Incontinence Quality of Life Scale, Uroflowmetry, and Ultrasound for Postvoid Residual.
Results:
The mean disease duration was 13.7 years (SD 10.5), the median EDSS score was 1.5 (IQR = 0-3). Frailty was significantly associated with the presence and burden of urinary symptoms. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between the frailty index and chronological age, EDSS, disease duration, OAB, and I-QOL (all p < 0.05). In people with urinary symptoms, two multivariable logistic regression models showed that only the frailty index score was significantly associated with the Incontinence Quality of Life Scale total score and the 8-item overactive bladder questionnaire. No correlations were found between uroflowmetry data, postvoid residual, and frailty.
Conclusion:
Frailty is associated with the presence and burden of disability due to urinary symptoms. Frailty possibly affects the pathophysiological mechanisms of MS involved in the development and worsening of urinary symptoms.
Related Concept Videos
01:20Disorders of the Urinary System
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are one of the most common urinary system disorders. They are caused by bacteria that enter the urethra and can spread to the bladder resulting in cystitis. Pyelonephritis is the result of a UTI that has ascended to the level of the...
01:24Physiology of Urine Formation
Glomerular Filtration
The first stage in urine formation is glomerular filtration. Each kidney contains approximately 1 million nephrons, the functional units of filtration, with a...
01:26Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
01:15Parkinson's Disease: Overview
01:29Bone Disorders
Bone deposition is also affected by the levels of sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone that promote osteoblast activity and bone matrix synthesis. When the level of these hormones decreases due to aging, it causes a reduction in bone deposition. As a result, bone resorption by osteoclasts...
01:26The Micturition Reflex
The process begins with bladder filling, where the bladder wall stretches as urine accumulates. This stretching activates the urine storage reflex, mediated by the sacral spinal segments and the pontine storage center. Efferent sympathetic impulses stimulate the detrusor muscle to relax and the internal urethral sphincter to contract, facilitating...