Investigators: Prof Emily Banks (CI), Dr Mark Clements, Dr Mithilesh Dronavalli, Dr Terry Dwyer, Elsamual Elhebir, Prof Jeff Hughes, Dr Grace Joshy, Dr Rosemary Korda, Dr David Smith.
Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are extremely common and are responsible for considerable morbidity and health care costs. In men, international studies indicate the prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia, a term often used synonymously with LUTS, is approximately 35% for men aged 60 and over and surgical treatment for LUTS is extremely common. In women, incontinence is a common and significant health problem, with 8% of those in the 45 and Up Study reporting being troubled by leaking urine on a daily basis. Surgery for incontinence is also common. However, this area remains under researched and little reliable data exist on factors associated with LUTS, sexual health and related surgical procedures. Furthermore, although various prescription medications are known to exacerbate prostatic and urinary symptoms, direct evidence using linked prescription data and clinical outcomes is limited. This project will use questionnaire data from the 45 and Up Study linked to data on medications, hospitalisation and other health services use to identify potentially modifiable factors associated with LUTS, and the health and health services sequelae of LUTS.
