Clinical Interventions in Aging (Feb 2018)

Urologic symptoms and burden of frailty and geriatric conditions in older men: the Aging Study of PyeongChang Rural Area

  • Jang IY,
  • Lee CK,
  • Jung H,
  • Yu SS,
  • Lee YS,
  • Lee E,
  • Kim DH

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 13
pp. 297 – 304

Abstract

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Il-Young Jang,1,2 Chang Ki Lee,3 Hee-Won Jung,4,5 Sang Soo Yu,2 Young Soo Lee,1 Eunju Lee,1 Dae Hyun Kim6,7 1Department of Internal Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea; 2PyeongChang Health Center & County Hospital, PyeongChang, Gangwon-Do, Republic of Korea; 3Goldman Urology Clinic, Seoul, Republic of Korea; 4Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Republic of Korea; 5Geriatric Center, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-Do, Republic of Korea; 6Division of Gerontology, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; 7Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA Purpose: Frailty is an important consideration in the management of lower urinary tract symptoms and erectile dysfunction in older men; frailty increases vulnerability to treatment-related adverse outcomes, but its burden is not known. The authors aimed to examine the burden of frailty and associated geriatric conditions in community-dwelling older men.Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 492 community-dwelling older men (mean age, 74.2 years; standard deviation, 5.6 years). All the participants were administered the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) (range: 0–35) and a five-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) (range: 5–25). Frailty phenotype was assessed based on exhaustion, inactivity, slowness, weakness, and weight loss. Prevalence of frailty phenotype and geriatric conditions were assessed by the IPSS severity category (mild, 0–7; moderate, 8–19; severe, 20–35 points) and the first IIEF-5 question, which assesses the confidence in erectile function (low, 1–2; moderate, 3; high, 4–5 points).Results: Older men with severe urologic symptoms had a high prevalence of frailty. According to the IPSS questionnaire, the prevalence of frailty was 7.3% (21/288) in the mild category, 16.3% (26/160) in the moderate category, and 43.2% (19/44) in the severe category. Participants in the severe IPSS category showed high prevalence of dismobility (45.5%), multimorbidity (43.2%), malnutrition risk (40.9%), sarcopenia (40.9%), and polypharmacy (31.8%). According to erectile confidence based on the first IIEF-5 question, the prevalence of frailty was 18.7% (56/300) for low confidence, 5.3% (6/114) for moderate confidence, and 5.1% (4/78) for high confidence. Participants with low confidence in erectile function showed high prevalence of sarcopenia (39.0%), multimorbidity (37.7%), dismobility (35.7%), malnutrition risk (33.3%), and polypharmacy (23.0%).Conclusion: The prevalence of frailty and geriatric conditions was higher in older men with severe urologic symptoms. A frailty screening should be routinely administered in urology practices to identify older men who are vulnerable to treatment-related adverse events. Keywords: erectile dysfunction, frailty, geriatric assessment, lower urinary tract symptoms, risk management

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