Overactive bladder cases among men increase sharply during latter half of previous decade

Key takeaways:

• The proportion of men with overactive bladder increased significantly from 2015 to 2020.
• Results showed significant increases in overactive bladder among non-Hispanic Black men and in those with obesity.

The prevalence of overactive bladder among men in the United States rose substantially between 2005 and 2020, results from a nationally representative cohort study showed.

After observing small increases over the first several years they examined, researchers reported a significant rise in the proportion of men with overactive bladder (OAB) during the latter part of the study period, from 2015 to 2020.

OAB has caused significant impacts on physical health and quality of life, in addition to financial burden, according to Yu Cheng, PhD, of Jiangxi Medical College at Nanchang University in China, and colleagues.

“Although recent epidemiology of OAB has focused on men and women, the current incidence and recent trends in male OAB are unclear,” they wrote in Scientific Reports.

In the study, the researchers assessed trends using 2005 to 2020 data on 18,386 men aged 20 years or older. Researchers used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey divided into three time periods: 2005-2008, 2009-2014 and 2015-2020.

Cheng and colleagues found that the overall prevalence of OAB increased from 11.3% in 2005-2008 to 11.7% in 2009-2014 to 14.5% in 2015-2020 (difference = 3.2%; 95% CI, 1.9%-4.4%).

From 2005-2008 to 2015-2020, the prevalence of OAB rose from:

• 9.7% to 13.5% among those aged 40 to 59 years;
• 11.1% to 14.5% among non-Hispanic white people;
• 15.4% to 20.3% among non-Hispanic Black people;
• 11% to 14.2% among those with overweight; and
• 13.2% to 16.3% among those with obesity.

The researchers noted that Hispanic men (OR = 1.07; 95% CI, 0.91-1.26) and non-Hispanic Black men (OR = 1.91; 95% CI, 1.62-2.24) had a higher prevalence of OAB than non-Hispanic white men.

They added that the reasons for racial differences in OAB prevalence are undetermined but “are likely multifactorial.”

A higher prevalence of OAB was observed in those with diabetes (OR = 1.54; 95% CI 1.32-1.8), a sleep disorder (OR = 1.27; 95% CI, 1.07-1.51), chronic conditions (OR = 1.67; 95% CI, 1.43-1.93) and depression (OR = 2.44; 95% CI, 1.97-3.04).

Higher OAB prevalence was further seen in those with consumption of unsafe food (OR = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.09-1.57), a poorer health condition (OR = 1.34; 95% CI, 1.14-1.59), mild recreational activity (OR = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.04-1.65) and moderate recreational activity (OR = 1.35; 95% CI, 1.05-1.73);

“Those who had a vigorous recreational activity, good health condition and good food security had a lower risk of experiencing OAB,” Cheng and colleagues wrote. “Therefore, these healthy lifestyles are recommended in daily life to prevent the occurrence of OAB and relieve or manage OAB.”

They pointed out that the reasons and mechanisms behind the overall increased prevalence of OAB remain unclear, even with rising trends seen in several specific populations.

For example, although the prevalence of obesity increased during the study’s time period along with increasing cases of OAB was among individuals with obesity, researchers said they did not observe an independent association between obesity and OAB.

“Therefore, future studies should be focused [on exploring] the reasons why OAB prevalence increased,” they wrote. “Focused research can help prevent and remedy this growing socioeconomic and individually troublesome malady.”