Female Urology – IncontinencePrevalence of the Overactive Bladder Syndrome by Applying the International Continence Society Definition
Introduction
According to the International Continence Society (ICS) “urgency, with or without urge incontinence, usually with frequency and nocturia, can be described as the overactive bladder (OAB) syndrome, urge syndrome or urgency-frequency syndrome. These terms can be used if there is no proven infection or obvious pathology” [1]. There is a continuing debate regarding the appropriateness of this definition, it has been questioned whether OAB is really a syndrome, particularly because the symptoms frequency, urgency and urge incontinence do not indicate a single disease [8]. Instead they are a set of symptoms for various diseases, such as detrusor overactivity, detrusor hypersensitivity, infravesical obstruction, bladder neck insufficiency and polyuria, just to mention some [8]. Nevertheless the term OAB (syndrome) became popular in the urological field within the past 3–4 years [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8].
It is generally accepted that OAB is a highly prevalent disorder that increases with age in both sexes and that has a profound impact on quality of life. Solid data on the prevalence of OAB in both sexes are scant. Three large-scale studies on the prevalence of OAB have recently been published [9], [10], [11]. Unfortunately, these three studies used individual definitions of OAB, none of which was entirely conform to the current ICS proposal [9], [10], [11]. As a result of this inconsistency, substantial differences on OAB prevalence rates have been reported [9], [10], [11].
To circumvent these shortcomings, we aimed to assess the prevalence of OAB in both sexes using the most recent 2002 ICS definition. Almost 2500 consecutive men and women with an age range of 20–91 years, participating in a health screening project in the area of Vienna, entered this analysis.
Section snippets
Study design
Voluntary health examinations free of charge are regularly organized in Vienna (approximately 1.6 million inhabitants; 47% men). Overall, there are seven sites at which the city's inhabitants can participate in a health survey; in addition, employees of large companies are also invited to participate. During this health examination the following parameters are routinely assessed: (1) a detailed medical history; (2) assessment of all concurrent medical therapies; (3) physical examination with
Study population
A total of 2418 individuals (1219 women/1199 men), aged 20–91 years, were enrolled in this study. The mean age of the female population was 49.5 ± 13.5 years (mean ± SD), that of the male population 48.5 ± 13.1 years (mean ± SD). The age distribution of the female population was as follows: 20–29 years: 5.4% (n = 66), 30–39 years: 14.1% (n = 172), 40–49 years: 31% (n = 378), 50–59 years: 25.8% (n = 315), 60–69 years: 12.7% (n = 155) and 70+ years: 10.9% (n = 133). In the male population, the respective percentages
Discussion
By using the 2002 ICS definition we obtained an overall prevalence of OAB in our population (20–91 years) of 10.2% in men and 16.8% in women. We have studied individuals participating in a health screening survey. One advantage of this approach is the fact that all participants underwent a health investigation. In contrast to mailed surveys or phone interviews, co-morbidities were assessed by a general practitioner. We were therefore able to exclude individuals with urinary tract infection as
References (17)
Diagnosis and treatment of the overactive bladder
Urology
(2003)Describing bladder storage function: overactive bladder syndrome and detrusor overactivity
Urology
(2003)Editorial: Overactive bladder: a clinical entity or a marketing hype?
Eur Urol
(2005)- et al.
Standardisation Sub-committee of the International Continence Society. The standardisation of terminology of lower urinary tract function: report from the Standardisation Sub-committee of the International Continence Society
Neurourol Urodyn
(2002) - et al.
Clinical aspects of the overactive bladder and detrusor overactivity
Scand J Urol Nephrol Suppl
(2002) Overactive bladder revisited
Neurourol Urodyn
(2002)Overactive bladder: symptom or syndrome?
BJU Int
(2003)Management of overactive bladder
New Engl J Med
(2004)
Cited by (143)
Are patients with bladder oversensitivity different from those with urodynamically proven detrusor overactivity in female overactive bladder syndrome?
2017, Journal of the Chinese Medical AssociationClinical tools for evaluating the severity of overactive bladder: A systematic review of psychometric properties
2024, Clinical RehabilitationSystematic review and meta-analysis of urinary incontinence prevalence and population estimates
2024, Neurourology and Urodynamics