Fluctuations in lower urinary tract symptoms in women

doi:10.1136/bmj.320.7247.1418

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Reassurance and watchful waiting can prevent overtreatment

Steinar Hunskaar, professor in general practice (steinar.hunskar@isf.uib.no)

Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Ulriksdal 8c, 5009 Bergen, Norway

Urinary symptoms are common in both men and women. Traditionally “prostatism” has been used to describe the symptoms in men, while urinary incontinence and dysuria were used for women.1 For some years the term lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) has been used to describe any constellation of symptoms occurring in patients of either sex at any age. The symptoms are not disease specific and the term does not suggest any cause for the symptoms. It has been shown that instruments developed to score symptoms in men (for example, the international prostate symptom score scale) are not sex specific, as the symptoms are as prevalent in women as in men.2 3

Lower urinary tract symptoms may come and go

In this issue Møller et al (p 1429) present data on the incidence and rates of remission at one year of lower urinary tract symptoms in 2284 Danish women aged 40-60.4 The prevalence was 29%, the incidence …