Voiding dysfunction of men is associated with metabolic syndrome

Purpose: With the recent changes in eating habits and the westernization of peoples' lifestyle, the occurrence of coronary artery disease is on the rise. In 1998, the World Health Organization (WHO) defined "metabolic syndrome" as a condition in which all the risk factors of coronary artery disease exist in an elderly individual. We investigated the relationship between metabolic syndrome and voiding difficulty. Materials and Methods: In 2004, we investigated 123 male out-patients who visited the endocrinology department and the health care center between the months of March and October. We divided the patients into two groups: one group met the criteria for metabolic syndrome (n=90, 58.7 ±8.9 years old) and one group didn't met the criteria (n=33, 57.8±9.5 years old), and we compared factors of voiding difficulty between the these two groups. Results: When comparing the components of metabolic syndrome in the patient study group to the control study group, the metabolic syndrome patients scored poorly for all the metabolic syndrome components in comparison to the control group (p < 0.05). When comparing the voiding factors of the metabolic syndrome patients to the control group, the metabolic syndrome patient group scored substantially lower than the control group for all the voiding factors (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The results of this study proved that metabolic syndrome and voiding difficulty are related. Therefore, the earlier diagnosis of metabolic syndrome should be possible by performing a more active investigation for metabolic syndrome in the patients who are admitted with voiding difficulty.