• Ann Rubach, Kirubakaran Balasubramaniam, Sandra Elnegaard, Stine E Larsen, and Dorte E Jarbøl.
• Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense C, Denmark.
• Fam Pract. 2019 Nov 18; 36 (6): 743-750.

BackgroundThe majority of men who report urological symptoms of extreme concern or influence on daily activities do not contact their general practitioner (GP). No previous study on barriers to health care seeking with lower urinary tract symptoms in men has been carried out in a population-based setting.Objectives(i) To examine associations between different types of lower urinary tract symptoms and barriers to contact a GP in men with urological symptoms reported to be of concern or influencing daily activity (termed 'bothersome'); (ii) to examine associations between age and barriers to health care seeking in men with bothersome lower urinary tract symptoms.Study DesignA population-based cross-sectional study design.MethodsA total of 48 910 men aged 20 or older were randomly selected from the general Danish population. Data was collected in 2012. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios for reporting different barriers to health care seeking with bothersome lower urinary tract symptoms according to age and urological symptom.ResultsA total of 23 240 men participated. Among men aged 20-39 years who reported bothersome lower urinary tract symptoms, the proportion who did not contact their GP ranged from 73.4% (incontinence) to 84.5% (nocturia). Men younger than 60 years of age had significantly higher odds for reporting any barriers to health care seeking compared to older men. The odds for reporting each of the barriers differed significantly according to the different urological symptoms.ConclusionYounger men more often report barriers to health care seeking, but the barriers differ between the different urological symptoms.© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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