Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu, PMB 01129, Nigeria.
Department of Health Administration and Management, Faculty of Health Sciences and Technology, University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, Enugu, Nigeria.
BMC Urol. 2020 Jul 3;20(1):87. doi: 10.1186/s12894-020-00651-0.
The point at which men seek medical care for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) varies between individuals. Presentation to hospital with complications beyond LUTS appears prevalent in our setting. The aim of this survey is to assess from the community perspective in southeast Nigeria, the challenges to early presentation for medical evaluation for LUTS by men.
A questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey of randomly-selected men ≥40 years. The questionnaire captured respondent's age; presence, duration and severity of LUTS; access to health information; wealth-index; and when (and why) medical care for LUTS was sought. Analysis was with SPSS® version 20.
In all, responses from 1319 men (mean age 54.2 ± 10.2 years) are analysed. Of these, 267 report LUTS: 58.4% (156) report moderate to severe LUTS and 51.7% (138) are yet to seek medical care. As regards seeking medical care, all the men reporting LUTS of 3 months, 35.7% of 126 men reporting moderate LUTS, and 20.0% of 30 men reporting severe LUTS are yet to seek medical care. LUTS being non-bothersome (not financial constraint) is the most prevalent reason for not seeking medical care early. Delay is encouraged by limited access to health information (OR 3.10; p < 0.001), but discouraged by literacy (OR 0.86; p < 0.001) and aging (OR 0.93; p = 0.002).
From the community perspective, the prevalent challenge to seeking medical care for LUTS early is absence of bother. Empowering men through formal education and researched health information will influence positively the time that LUTS in men is appreciated as bothersome.
男性因下尿路症状（LUTS）寻求医疗护理的时间因人而异。在我们的环境中，出现 LUTS 以外并发症后到医院就诊的情况似乎很普遍。本调查的目的是从尼日利亚东南部的社区角度评估男性因 LUTS 早期就诊面临的挑战。
对随机选择的≥40 岁男性进行基于问卷的横断面调查。问卷收集了受访者的年龄；LUTS 的存在、持续时间和严重程度；获取健康信息的途径；财富指数；以及何时（以及为何）因 LUTS 寻求医疗护理。使用 SPSS® 版本 20 进行分析。
总共分析了 1319 名男性（平均年龄 54.2±10.2 岁）的回复。其中，267 人报告有 LUTS：58.4%（156 人）报告有中重度 LUTS，51.7%（138 人）尚未寻求医疗护理。至于寻求医疗护理，所有报告 LUTS 持续 3 个月的男性、报告中度 LUTS 的 126 名男性中的 35.7%以及报告重度 LUTS 的 30 名男性中的 20.0%尚未寻求医疗护理。LUTS 不令人困扰（非经济限制）是不早期寻求医疗护理的最常见原因。获取健康信息的机会有限（OR 3.10；p<0.001）会鼓励延迟，而文化程度（OR 0.86；p<0.001）和年龄（OR 0.93；p=0.002）则会抑制延迟。
从社区角度来看，早期寻求 LUTS 医疗护理的主要挑战是缺乏困扰感。通过正规教育和有针对性的健康信息为男性赋权，将积极影响男性对 LUTS 的困扰程度的认识时间。
