Could LUTS be Early Symptoms of COVID-19

Abstract

Aim: To show if lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) could be symptoms of COVID-19 with validated questionnaires.Methods: The 96 COVID-19 patients who were hospitalized at a tertiary center were collected retrospectively. After the exclusion criteria, 46 patients were consisted as the study population. The male and female patients then fill formed the International Prostate Symptom Score and Urinary Symptom Profile respectively. All patients responded to these questions for the three period. Results: 27 female (58.6 %) and 19 male (41.4 %) COVID-19 patients answered the questions In the male patients, while there were no statistically significant differences in the total IPSS, the voiding IPSS score, and quality of life between the three periods (p=0.148; p=0.933, p=0.079, respectively), the storage IPSS scores had a significant difference between the three periods (p=0.05). In the female patients, low stream scores, were similar between the three periods (p=0.368). The scores of stress incontinence and an overactive bladder had a significant difference between the three periods (p=0.05 and p=0.05). Conclusion: LUTS, especially storage symptoms, might be one of the initial symptoms of COVID-19 and the clinicians should evaluate LUTS with other known symptoms of the virus when a patient is suspected of having COVID-19.

SARS‐CoV‐2 infection affects the lower urinary tract and male genital system: A systematic review

“…Urinary tract involvement was reported in five studies (Table 2). 26–29 In detail, de novo lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and deterioration of pre‐existing LUTS occurred in 43 and 7 patients, respectively. Validated questionnaires to score LUTS were adopted in two studies 28,29 .…”

“…Further assessment of eligibility, based on full‐text papers, led to the exclusion of nine papers. Finally, 16 studies involving a total of 575 patients infected with SARS‐CoV‐2 who had been evaluated for urinary and/or male genital involvement between January and June 2020 were included in the final analysis 17–31 (Figure 1). The characteristics of selected studies are summarized in Table 1.…”

“… 26–29 In detail, de novo lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and deterioration of pre‐existing LUTS occurred in 43 and 7 patients, respectively. Validated questionnaires to score LUTS were adopted in two studies 28,29 . Dhar et al 28 scored symptoms according to the Overactive Bladder Symptom Score and found a median overactive bladder symptom score of 18 in both men and women.…”

“…Dhar et al 28 scored symptoms according to the Overactive Bladder Symptom Score and found a median overactive bladder symptom score of 18 in both men and women. Kaya et al 29 adopted the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and the Urinary Symptom Profile (USP) for men and women, respectively and found, both in men and women, a statistically significant worsening in terms of both mean IPSS and mean UPS stress urinary incontinence/overactive bladder subscores.…”

The effect of COVID‐19 on lower urinary tract symptoms in elderly men

“…Despite these contradictory studies, the urinary frequency was reported as a common symptom of COVID‐19 in a recent study 8 . Furthermore, Kaya et al reported that LUTS might be one of the initial symptoms of COVID‐19 14 …”