Survey and Risk Factors for Lower Urinary Tract Storage Symptoms in Middle-Aged and Older Stroke Patients in Urban China

Objectives: To evaluate the prevalence and associated risk factors of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in people with stroke. This was the first study that systematically surveyed the risk factors for LUTS in people with various lengths of stroke history in urban Chinese communities. Methods: A community-based, cross-sectional study was performed on 1404 residents aged over 40 years, randomly selected in the urban area of Zhengzhou, China. A questionnaire including the subjects' general health information, sociodemographic background, medical history, and the overactive bladder symptom score (OABSS) was filled by the subjects on site. Results: Data from 706 (63.8.9 +/- 8.9 years old) stroke subjects and 698 non-stroke subjects were analyzed. The prevalence of LUTS in stroke subjects was 62.6%, significantly higher than non-stroke subjects. The prevalence in men was higher than women (P < 0.01). The stroke subjects with diabetes mellitus had higher odds for LUTS than those without diabetes (P < 0.05). The prevalence of LUTS was also significantly correlated with increasing age, high educational level, living alone, snoring, hypertension and coronary heart diseases (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Our study identified not only putative risk factors for LUTS in middle-aged and elderly stroke patients, but genuine factors including snoring, living environment and educational background that increased the odds of storage symptoms as well. We identified that regular exercise and living with their children were protective factors for storage symptoms in stroke patients.