Prevalence and geographic disparities of lower urinary tract symptoms among men in a community-based survey nested within a national screening campaign in the Republic of the Congo

Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) represent a major public health issue. To date, no study has explored the geographic distribution of LUTS in the Republic of the Congo.

To determine the prevalence of LUTS among screening-campaign participants aged 40 and over in seven Congolese cities and to analyze geographic disparities.

We conducted an analytical, cross-sectional, community-based, multicenter study. It included men aged 40 and over, recruited in seven cities across the country during a screening campaign. We carried out non-probabilistic quota sampling proportional to the demographic weight of the regions (northern, central, and southern). LUTS were defined according to International Continence Society criteria. Three Poisson regression models were generated to assess the effect of geographic characteristics on the prevalence of LUTS.

A total of 1619 participants were included, with a mean age of 62 (SD: 9) years. The overall prevalence of LUTS was 74.0% [95% CI: 71.7–76.2]. Prevalence varied by city of residence, city size, and region. Large cities had the highest prevalence (78.0% [75.6–80.4]), compared with 55.8% [48.5–63.8] for small cities. Regionally, prevalence was 77.2% [74.9–79.2] in the southern region versus 55.8% [47.9–63.8] in the central region. After adjustment, all cities compared to Brazzaville showed an association with a low prevalence of LUTS (aPR ranging from 0.62 to 0.90, p < 0.001). Residence in a large or medium-sized city remained significantly associated with high prevalence of LUTS (aPR = 1.28, p = 0.003 and aPR = 1.26, p = 0.011, respectively). The northern and central regions remained protective compared to the southern region (aPR = 0.87, p < 0.001 and aPR = 0.77, p = 0.002, respectively).

LUTS are very common in this population and show significant geographic disparities.