Health status and quality of life of British men with lower urinary tract symptoms: results from the SF-36.

Objectives: To determine the extent to which urinary symptoms, and resulting bothersomeness interfere with daily activities and affect health status, as measured using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-item short form health survey (SF-36).

Methods: Postal population survey in a British health region of 217 men aged 55 years and over known to have reported mild, moderate, or severe lower urinary tract symptoms. Outcome measures are self-reported urinary symptoms, their bothersomeness, general health status, and quality of life (measured using the SF-36).

Results: Response rate among eligible subjects was 84%. Depending on the activity, between 9% and 49% of men with moderate or severe urinary symptoms reported interference with some of their daily activities. Increasing symptom severity was associated with worsening physical role, social functioning, vitality, mental health, and perception of general health, and increasing bothersomeness was associated with worsening of all dimensions of general health status and quality of life. The association between these measures and bothersomeness was stronger than with symptom score. Compared with the general population, men bothered by their symptoms to the extent that they were a medium or a large problem have worse health status for all dimensions except physical functioning.

Conclusions: The SF-36 demonstrates a deterioration in general health status and quality of life with increasing lower urinary tract symptoms and the extent to which those symptoms are bothersome. As such, it provides a generic measure of the burden of ill health arising from these symptoms at a population level. There is, however, considerable individual variation in the way that men respond to their symptoms.