To determine the prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in systemic sclerosis (SSc), to find specific risk factors, and to assess their impact on quality of life (QoL).
In a multicenter study, 334 patients completed a self-administered questionnaire on LUTS and QoL. LUTS were classified into 3 main categories: storage, voiding, and post-micturition symptoms. Digestive symptoms burden was captured by a visual analog scale, divided into 5 equal categories. Multivariable logistic regressions were performed to test association between risk factors and LUTS categories. Linear regression adjusted the association between LUTS and QoL.
LUTS were recorded in 311 SSc patients (96.0%) and classified as severe in 120 (38.0%). The storage category of LUTS was the most prevalent (91.9%), followed by voiding (72.2%) and then by post-micturition symptoms (49.8%). Risk factors identified in the multivariable models were higher than the median Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index (HAQ DI; odds ratio [OR] 4.2 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.4-12.9]) in the storage category; higher than the median HAQ DI (OR 2.4 [95% CI 1.2-4.9]) for digestive symptoms burden (OR 1.9 [95% CI 1.3-2.7]) and synovitis (OR 4.8 [95% CI 1.0-22.6) in the voiding category; and higher for digestive symptoms burden (OR 1.2 [95% CI 1.0-1.5]) in the post-micturition category of symptoms. These factors also increased the odds of having further severe symptoms. QoL was affected by the 3 categories of LUTS and decreased progressively with increasing frequency of symptoms.
Self-reported LUTS are among the most frequent symptoms in SSc and are associated with digestive symptoms. SSc patients with LUTS have lower QoL.