Prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms in patients with cardiovascular disease

INTRODUCTION: The presence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) might be linked with elevated cardiovascular risk. There is a lack of data showing the prevalence of LUTS in the population of patients with cardiovascular diseases. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of LUTS in patients hospitalized due to a cardiovascular disease. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients hospitalized in a tertiary cardiology department due to a primary diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (including coronary artery disease, heart failure and arrhythmia) were included in the study. All patients were screened for LUTS and assessed using the International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS). RESULTS: From 166 patients (age 62.8 ±12.1 years), moderate to severe LUTS was diagnosed in 62 patients (37.3%). Patients with LUTS were significantly older, but there were no other factors associated with LUTS. When we divided patients according to LUTS severity, we saw an increasing prevalence of arterial hypertension (69.5% vs 72.9% vs 100%), diabetes mellitus (29.5% vs 33.3% vs 38.5%), coronary artery disease (68.6% vs 72.9% vs 92.3%), but the observations were not statistically significant. Patients with coronary artery disease had significantly higher severity of LUTS compared to patients with arrhythmia or heart failure (mean IPSS 8.88 vs 5.6 vs 5.5, p = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of LUTS in patients with cardiovascular diseases is high, affecting 37.3% of the studied population. Patients with coronary artery disease have significantly higher severity of LUTS compared to other cardiovascular diseases.