Association between lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) in women: A study based on urodynamic findings and micturition problem

Aim: This study focused on women with chronic lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) who simultaneously suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to evaluate the association between micturition abnormality and OCD.

Methods: A cohort case study was conducted on 128 women with chronic LUTS who visited the academic clinic from 2012 to 2018. The participants with a history of OCD were grouped together, whereas the other group consisted of those with no psychiatric issues. Data were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and also the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis and χ² tests.

Results: The participants with OCD had a lower mean age (41.7 vs. 48.8 years) and longer symptom duration than the control group. Moreover, voiding phase problems were more prevalent among OCD patients (mean voiding score: 9.3 vs. 6.9). Urge urinary incontinence (UUI) was the most common type of urinary incontinence in OCD patients, and the most important urodynamic study finding was bladder outlet obstruction (45% and 17% in the OCD and control groups, respectively). Voiding disorders resulted in chronic renal failure in two patients (3.12%). It was shown that bladder outlet obstruction (odds ratio (OR) 4.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.53-12.78, p = 0.006] was the strongest predictor of OCD and stress urinary incontinence (OR 0.20, 95% CI 0.07-0.53, p < 0.001) was the best protector against OCD.

Conclusion: The findings revealed that chronic LUTS was related to voiding dysfunction and urodynamic abnormality in OCD patients. These disorders may be categorized as somatoform disorder that requires appropriate treatments.