Prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms and association with shift working in hospital staff

What is the prevalence of lower urinary tract symptom (LUTS) among public hospitals staff and association with shift working? The aim of the current study was to evaluate the prevalence and bothersomeness of LUTS and the impact of shift working on its symptoms among the staff of public hospitals. Job condition is one of the main risk factors for LUTS, and almost about three-quarters of nurses/nursing assistants do not have time to use the toilet during the shift work. Non-standard shiftwork intensely is associated with various urological complications. Our study reveals new insights on the prevalence of LUTS with more frequency in women shift workers when compared with men. We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional survey from October 2019 to January 2020. The data were collected from three public hospitals. A total of 228 individuals, 148 females (64.9%), and 80 males (35.1%) were enrolled in the study. After considering the inclusion criteria, for women, the validated version of the International Consultation on Incontinence Modular Questionnaire for Female Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (ICIQ-FLUTS) and for men, the validated version of the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire for Male Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Module (ICIQ-MLUTS) were used. LUTS was more prevalent in women (61.1% vs. 44.2%, p = 0.016). In both men and women, the most bothersome symptom was urgency and the most prevalent symptom was nocturia (58.9%, and 43.9%, respectively). A significant relationship was observed between LUTS and shift working in female staff (p = 0.037). Nocturia was found to be the most prevalent symptom in both genders. The highest bothersome issue in men was related to urgency, and in women in addition to urgency, nocturia was another common symptom. However, the bother scores of most symptoms relatively were low. Although the percentage of women with shift working was low the prevalence of LUTS was high in this gender.