Idiopathic Parkinson Disease May Increase Risk for Overactive Bladder

Idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) is independently associated with an increased risk for overactive bladder, according to results of a population-based cohort study published in PLoS ONE. The risk for overactive bladder is most significant for patients aged 65 to 74 years.

The researchers identified patients with PD (n=4571) and control patients (n=18,255), using the National Health Insurance Research Database of Taiwan. Control patients were matched by age, sex, and baseline comorbidities.

The researchers found that participants with idiopathic PD had a significantly higher overall incidence rate of overactive bladder compared with control patients (14.5 vs 6.37 per 10,000 person-years).

After controlling for benign prostatic hyperplasia and stress incontinence, participants with PD had a 2.3-fold increased risk for overactive bladder compared with control patients (95% CI, 1.51-3.51).

For patients with PD diagnosed with overactive bladder during the study follow-up period, the mean time between the PD diagnosis and OAB onset was approximately 5 years.

These study findings were limited by the use of diagnosis codes to identify patients with PD.

The researchers recommend additional studies to further investigate the causal relationship and identify risk factors between PD and overactive bladder.

Reference

Lin F, Yang Y, Lin C, Lee LJ. Increased risk of overactive bladder in patients with idiopathic Parkinson’s disease: insight from a nationwide population-based cohort study. PLoS ONE. 2018;13(3):e0193783.