Objectives: Several reports have investigated the association between alcohol consumption and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), but the results are controversial and few literatures are involved in Chinese men. Thus, the current study was to evaluate the effect of the frequency and history (times) of alcohol consumption on LUTS in a large Chinese male population.
Methods: The current data were obtained from a consecutive series of 3,229 men aged 18-79 who participated in a routine physical examination in Fangchenggang First People’s Hospital, Guangxi, China, which developed from September 2009 to December 2009. During a face-to-face interview, the detailed demographic variables about alcohol consumption and the others potential confounding factors were collected. LUTS were assessed by International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and defined as total LUTS, irritative (IRR) symptoms and obstructive (OBS) symptoms, respectively. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the risk of LUTS affected by alcohol consumption.
Results: The prevalence of moderate to severe LUTS was 8.3% and apparently increased with the age (P<0.001). Men who drinking 1-2 times per week were less likely to have OBS symptoms (OR =0.45, 95% CI, 0.29-0.70) regardless of age (OR =0.52, 95% CI, 0.33-0.82) or multivariate adjusted (OR =0.52, 95% CI, 0.33-0.83). Negative association also presented between the history of alcohol consumption and OBS symptoms among those who in the third quartile of overall subjects (OR =0.56, 95% CI, 0.36-0.87), the second tertile of 1-2 per week (OR =0.30, 95% CI, 0.15-0.61) and ≤3 per month (OR =0.46, 95% CI, 0.27-0.78) drinking and not interfered by age or others confounding factors when comparing with never drinkers; however, it did not show as a directly inverse association in the whole model.
Conclusions: The current results implied that moderate frequency of alcohol consumption may be protective against LUTS, and the history of alcohol consumption did not relate to worsening or improving LUTS.
