Drinking Frequency but not Years may be Associated with Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms: Result from a Large Cross-Sectional Survey in Chinese Men.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of the drinking frequency and years on lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in a large Chinese male population.

Methods: The current data were obtained from a consecutive series of 3,229 men aged 18-79 who participated in a routine physical examination in Fangchenggang First People's Hospital, Guangxi, China. During a face-to-face interview, the detailed demographic variables about alcohol consumption, potential confounding factors were collected. LUTS were assessed by International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and defined as total LUTS, irritative (IRR) and obstructive (OBS) symptoms, respectively. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk of total LUTS, IRR and OBS symptoms affected by alcohol consumption.

Results: The prevalence of moderate to severe LUTS was 8.3% and apparently increased with age (<0.001). A significant distribution presented in age, alcohol consumption, BMI, cigarette smoking, education attainment and hypertension among different strata of LUTS severity (<0.05). Men who drank 1-2 times per week were less likely to have OBS symptoms (OR=0.45, 95%CI=0.29-0.70) regardless of age (OR=0.52, 95%CI=0.33-0.82) or multivariate adjusted (OR=0.52, 95%CI=0.33-0.83). Nevertheless, we did not observe a significant negative or positive association presented between drinking years and the risk of total LUTS, OBS and IRR symptoms.

Conclusion: The current results imply that moderate drinking frequency may be protective against LUTS, and drinking years did not relate to worsening or improving LUTS.