Psychological and Functional Outcomes of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Chronic Stroke

Abstract

Do lower urinary tract symptoms affect disease-specific quality of life, anxiety, depression and functional status in chronic stroke patients? Nervous system lesions associated with stroke can cause lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in individuals. Post-stroke dysfunctions significantly affect quality of life by causing depression and anxiety. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of LUTS on disease-specific quality of life, functional status, anxiety and depression in individuals with chronic stroke. The secondary aim was to evaluate the coherence between Overactive Bladder Questionnaire-V8 (OAB-V8) and Core Lower Urinary Tract Symptom Score (CLSS) scores. This study was a planned single-centre prospective cohort study conducted on patients with chronic stroke undergoing inpatient treatment at a rehabilitation centre. Eighty people with chronic stroke were included. LUTS were evaluated with the CLSS and OAB-V8; functional status was evaluated with the functional independence measure (FIM); anxiety and depression levels were evaluated with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and quality of life was evaluated with the Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Scale (SS-QoL). The SS-QoL, HADS depression and anxiety subscores were significantly affected by CLSS and OAB-V8 (p < 0.05). A statistically significant effect was observed for CLSS on FIM (p < 0.05); on the other hand, there was no statistically significant effect of OAB-V8 on FIM (p > 0.05). CLSS and OAB-V8 had a statistically significant, strong positive relationship (p < 0.05). A statistically significant coherence of 81.8% was found between CLSS and OAB-V8. In conclusion, our results showed that LUTS have effects on disease-specific quality of life, functional status, anxiety and depression in chronic stroke patients. Secondly, these questionnaires can be used in the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of LUTS in chronic stroke patients.