Adherence to Healthy Lifestyle Linked to Lower Risk for Overactive Bladder

THURSDAY, July 24, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Adherence to a combination of healthy lifestyle factors is associated with a lower risk for overactive bladder (OAB), according to a study published online June 30 in Frontiers in Nutrition.

Tianjie Li, from The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University in China, and colleagues conducted a cross-sectional study using data from 20,195 nonpregnant adults aged 20 to 79 years in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2007 to 2020 to examine the association between a composite healthy lifestyle score and risk for OAB. Five components were used to construct a healthy lifestyle score: current nonsmoking, low-to-moderate alcohol consumption, adequate physical activity, a healthy diet, and optimal waist circumference.

The researchers found that 14.58 percent of the 20,195 participants were identified as having OAB. There was an inverse association for a higher healthy lifestyle score with the risk for OAB in a dose-response manner. Individuals with four to five healthy lifestyle factors had a lower risk for OAB compared with those with zero to one healthy lifestyle factor (adjusted odds ratio, 0.54). A 17 percent lower risk for OAB was seen in association with each additional healthy lifestyle factor (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.83). The robustness of these associations was confirmed in sensitivity analyses. Independent associations with a lower risk for OAB were seen for nonsmoking, moderate alcohol intake, regular physical activity, a healthy diet, and optimal waist circumference.

“Clinically, health care professionals might incorporate lifestyle counseling into care, providing personalized recommendations for individuals at higher OAB risk,” the authors write.

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