Ján Švihra1, Ivana Zigová2, Milan Švec3, Eva Šulcová4
Objective: Analysis of gender differences in the prevalence, risk factors, diagnosis and treatment of overactive bladder (OAB) in Slovakia. Materials and Methods: Inclusion criteria for the cross-sectional multicenter study were syndrome of the overactive bladder, age greater than 18 years and adequate cognitive function. Exclusion criteria were: lack of patient cooperation, continuous or intermittent catheterization of lower urinary tract, urinary tract fistula. Patients had evaluation of demographic data, sub- jective and objective OAB characteristics, OAB-V8 questionnaire and management of OAB. Results: A total of 1945 patients of 77 outpatient clinics were included, participants were 814 males (41.9 %) and 1131 fe- males (58.1 %), mean age of study population was 60.2 ± 12.3 years (range 18-93 years). Symptoms of overactive bladder was changed statistically significantly in males vs. females during 24-hours period (frequency: 11.9 vs. 11.5, p < 0.05; nocturia: 3.3 vs. 2.9, p < 0.01; urgency urinary incontinence: 1.2 vs. 2.5, p < 0.01). Males with higher weight had higher risk of OAB than females (OR 3.91; 95 % CI 3.14 - 4.87), females younger than 65 years had a higher risk of OAB than males (OR 2.63; 95 % CI 2.18 - 3.18). The total score achieved OAB-V8 of 22.4 ± 7.0, significant value of OAB-V8 (score > 15) was obtained in 81.2 % of all cases. Conclusions: Epidemiological study confirmed significant gender-specific differences because of more prevalent nocturia and frequency in males vs. more prevalent urgency urinary incontinence in females. Management of OAB was performed according to the standard clinical guidelines.