Background: Urinary incontinence is common in women. Because treatments differ, urge incontinence should be distinguished from stress incontinence. To make this distinction, current guidelines recommend an extensive evaluation that is too time-consuming for primary care practice.

Purpose Foods, fluid intake, caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco may influence lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). Changes in these potentially modifiable non-urologic factors (NUF) are often suggested to improve LUTS. To better understand the relationship of NUFs with LUTS, we performed a systematic literature review to examine, grade, and summarize reported associations between LUTS and diet, fluid intake, caffeine, tobacco and alcohol use. Materials and Methods We performed PubMed searches for eligible articles providing evidence on associations between one or more NUF and LUTS. A modified Oxford system was used to grade the evidence. Results We reviewed 110 articles covering diet (n=28), fluid intake (n=21), caffeine (n=20), alcohol (n=26) and tobacco use (n=44). The evidence grade was generally low (6% level 1, 24% level 2, 11% level 3; 59% level 4). Fluid intake was associated with urinary frequency and urgency in men and women. Modest alcohol use was associated with less likelihood of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) diagnosis and fewer LUTS in men. LUTS associations with food, caffeine, and tobacco were inconsistent. Conclusions Evidence for associations between LUTS and diet, fluid intake, caffeine, alcohol and tobacco use is sparse and mostly observational. However, there is evidence of associations between increased fluid intake and urinary frequency/urgency, and between modest alcohol intake and decreased BPH diagnosis and LUTS. Given the importance of these NUF to daily life, and their perceived impact on LUTS, higher quality evidence is needed.