Is the occurrence of storage and voiding dysfunction affected by menopausal transition or associated with the normal aging process?

Objectives: To evaluate whether the increasing occurrence of urinary and voiding dysfunction is independently influenced by the transition from pre- to postmenopause or by the interactive and additive effects of age-associated changes in bladder and urethral function. Design: Of the 1,584 women randomly sampled from a community-based health population, 1 253 (79.1%) were successfully interviewed. The participants were asked to reply to the Bristol Female Urinary Tract Symptoms Questionnaire regarding various storage symptoms and voiding dysfunction. The chi(2) test and Cochran-Armitage trend test were used for analysis. Results: The prevalence of storage symptoms such as frequency, urgency, nocturia, and urge incontinence in premenopausal and menopausal groups was 18.0% versus 29.8%, 9.8% versus 20.7%, 21.2% versus 38.2%, and 6.8% versus 15.7%, respectively (all P<0.05). In premenopausal and menopausal groups, the prevalence of hesitancy, poor stream, incomplete emptying, voiding with abdominal straining, discontinuous urine flow, and dribbling was also significantly different (17.2% v 22.9%, 17.8% v 25.7%, 12.7% v 21.9%, 4.9% v 11.6%, 16.2% v 24.5%, and 9.4% v 17.6%, respectively; all P < 0.05). However, the occurrences of various storage symptoms, namely, frequency, urgency, nocturia, and urge incontinence, as well as voiding symptoms such as incomplete emptying, discontinuous urine flow, and dribbling, were also significantly associated with the normal aging process (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our results imply that the increasing occurrences of storage and voiding dysfunctions are not only affected by pre- and postmenopausal transition but are also closely associated with aging changes.