Abuse is recognized as a significant public health problem. It is medically linked to a variety of genitourinary symptoms, particularly those affecting the urinary tract.

Anxiety and fear can present as urinary symptoms long after the occurrence of abuse. This link is often attributed to psychological factors rather than physiological abnormalities. Psychological abuse may result in various conditions, including an overactive bladder, which is marked by urinary urgency, often accompanied by increased frequency or nocturia.

Symptoms such as urinary frequency, urgency, and nocturia have been linked to past experiences of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse in both men and women. This link fulfills multiple criteria indicative of a causal connection. As a result, urologists are advised to take into account the potential impact of abuse in patients exhibiting these urinary symptoms.

Take-home message

Experiencing physical, sexual, and emotional abuse during childhood or adolescence is positively correlated with various adverse outcomes, such as:

• urinary frequency (an abrupt, strong, often overwhelming, need to urinate, for example once every 1-2 hours or 3 hours,
• urinary urgency (a sudden compelling desire to pass urine that is difficult to defer), and
• nocturia (the need to get up at night regularly to urinate, the most bothersome of all urinary symptoms and also one of the most common).