Abstract
BACKGROUND: This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) among non-obese and obese Palestinians. The study also aimed to assess the effects of LUTS on the quality of life of obese and non-obese Palestinians. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study that was conducted among normal-weight, overweight, and obese Palestinians using the King Health Questionnaire. The data collected from participants were entered and analyzed using SPSS (version 22). RESULTS: In this study, data were collected from 378 participants. The median age of the participants was 42.0 [30.0, 55.0] years, and the median body mass index was 27.1 [24.0, 30.8] kg/m(2). Of the participants, 149 (39.4%) were overweight and 112 (29.6%) were obese. The prevalence of urinary hesitancy, incomplete emptying, urgency, nocturia, urgency, urge incontinence, stress incontinence, nocturnal enuresis, intercourse incontinence, bladder pain, number of urinations/24 h, and number of urinations/night was significantly higher among obese participants. Similarly, role limitations, physical/social limitation, personal relationships, emotions, and sleep/energy were affected significantly higher in obese compared to nonobese participants. CONCLUSION: Higher prevalence of LUTS among obese patients compared to nonobese patients was observed among the Palestinians. Obese patients reported significantly higher deterioration of the quality of life as a result of LUTS compared to nonobese patients. Urologists, nutritionists, public health specialists, and other healthcare providers should consider measures to reduce LUTS among obese patients and improve their quality of life.