Healthcare-seeking prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms among national health insurance enrollees in Taiwan, 2000-2009.

Objective: To investigate the healthcare-seeking prevalence of those with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) among National Health Insurance enrollees in Taiwan.
Materials and Methods: Data from the National Health Insurance Research Database were obtained from a random population sample of about one million as a representative cohort from 2000 to 2009. Subjects aged≥18 years with ≥1 outpatient service claim and coding for a LUTS-related diagnosis were identified and analyzed annually.
Results: The healthcare-seeking prevalence for LUTS increased from 23.11‰ in 2000 to 38.37‰ in 2009. Similar trends were found for storage symptoms and voiding symptoms (P<.0001). In 2009, the age distribution of LUTS was 4.32%, 5.82%, 10.92%, 19.23%, 21.25%, and 38.47% in those aged 18-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and ≥70 years, respectively. The overall LUTS prevalence was more common in men (54.45‰) than in women (21.73‰). For LUTS subtypes, storage symptoms were more common in women (19.46‰) than in men (13.13‰); however, the trend was reversed in the population>60 years old. Voiding and mixed symptoms were more common in men (4.69‰, and 0.83‰, respectively) than in women (2.80‰ and 0.58‰, respectively).
Conclusion: In the present cohort study, patients with LUTS seeking medical help increased annually from 2000 to 2009 in Taiwan. The occurrence of LUTS subtypes varied according to age and sex. LUTS is becoming a substantial healthcare burden as the number of aged people who want to maintain a good quality of life increases.
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