Urinary incontinence and lower urinary tract symptoms: an epidemiological study of men aged 45 to 99 years

We assessed the prevalence of urinary incontinence and other lower urinary tract symptoms in men 45 years old or older.

A postal questionnaire was sent to a random sample (10,458) of the total population of men 45 years old or older living in Göteborg, Sweden. The response rate was 74%.

The overall prevalence of urinary incontinence was 9.2% increasing (p < 0.001) linearly from 3.6% in men 45 years old to 28.2% in men 90 years old or older. Daily leakage was reported by 64%, and 31% believed that urinary incontinence limited their social and vocational life. However, only 46% of the men with urinary incontinence had sought medical advice. Overall prevalence of other voiding disturbances included hesitancy in 9.1% of the patients, weak stream in 30.5%, dribbling in 33.7%, sensation of incompletely emptied bladder in 26.4%, nocturia in 56.1% and history of urinary tract infection in the last 2 years in 6.3%. Prevalence of all symptoms increased with increasing age. Childhood enuresis was reported by 9.1%. Impotence was reported by 7.6% and there was a linear increase (p < 0.001) in the number of men reporting impotence up to 80 years of age.

The prevalence of urinary incontinence and lower urogenital tract symptoms, such as hesitancy, weak stream, dribbling, sensation of incompletely emptied bladder, nocturia, urinary tract infection and impotence, increased linearly with increasing age.