Prolonged sitting time and low physical activity levels are tied to higher incidence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in men, according to a study published online March 20 in BJU International.
Heung Jae Park, from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues assessed the association of sitting time and physical activity level with the incidence of LUTS in a cohort of 69,795 Korean men who were free of LUTS at baseline and followed annually or biennially for a mean of 2.6 years.
The researchers found that the incidence rate of significant LUTS was 39 per 1,000 person-years. Both low physical activity level and prolonged sitting time were independently associated with the incidence of LUTS after adjustment for multiple factors. Comparing minimally active and health-enhancing physically active groups to the inactive group, the hazard ratios for incident LUTS were 0.94 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.89 to 0.99) and 0.93 (95 percent confidence interval, 0.87 to 0.99), respectively. Comparing five to nine hours/day of sitting time and ≥10 hours/day of sitting time to less than five hours/day, the hazard ratios for LUTS were 1.08 (95 percent confidence interval, 1 to 1.24) and 1.15 (95 percent confidence interval, 1.06 to 1.24), respectively.
“This result supports the importance of both reducing sitting time and promoting physical activity for preventing LUTS,” the authors write.
