Objective: To analyze the relationship between overactive bladder (OAB) symptoms and Parkinson’s disease (PD) severity with quality of life (QoL) in PD patients

Background: Parkinson’s disease imposes substantial motor and non-motor burdens on affected individuals. OAB prevalence in PD ranges from 44% to 80% and may considerably compromise QoL. Despite its high prevalence, the independent contribution of OAB relative to motor severity in determining QoL remains insufficiently characterized, as non-motor symptoms are frequently underrepresented in conventional clinical staging systems

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a neurology outpatient clinic in Malang,Indonesia (December 2023–2025). Fifty-one patients fulfilling UK Brain Bank criteria were enrolled through purposive sampling. Patients with moderate-to-severe cognitive impairment or stroke history were excluded. Disease severity was classified using Hoehn and Yahr staging, OAB via the Overactive Bladder Symptom Score (OABSS), and QoL using the Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39). Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed

Results: Mean participant age was 62.5±9.5 years, and 60.8% were female. OAB symptoms were highly prevalent and observed across all Hoehn & Yahr stages. Mild OAB was present in 68.6% of patients, while nearly one-third (31.4%) experienced moderate-to-severe symptoms. Nocturia emerged as the most frequently reported urinary complaint, identified in 62.7% of subjects. While most subjects (66.7%) demonstrated poor QoL, no statistically significant associations were found between OAB and QoL (p=0.831), PD severity and QoL (p=0.322), or PD severity and OAB (p=0.057). Multivariate analysis confirmed neither variable independently predicted QoL after adjusting for age (severity p=0.303; OAB p=0.602)

Conclusion: OAB symptoms, particularly nocturia, are highly prevalent across all motor stages of Parkinson’s disease despite showing no statistical association with severity or QoL in this cohort. This high frequency highlights the necessity of routine autonomic screening and early recognition to improve comprehensive patient management

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/overactive-bladder-in-parkinsons-disease-a-frequent-but-underrecognized-non-motor-symptom/