How many times should the uroflowmetry be repeated before making a treatment decision in the elderly males?

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of repeating uroflowmetry test on results of patients with or without lower urinary tract symptoms. METHODS The prospective study was conducted at the Department of Urology, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Turkey, from August to December 2012, and comprised 79 consecutive male patients with or without infravesical obstruction symptoms. All patients underwent uroflowmetry testing thrice on different occasions. The urinary maximum flow rate, average flow rate, voided volume (> or = 150 ml), voiding time, flow time and time to void values were evaluated. SPSS 16 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS The overall mean of maximum flow rate was 11.4 +/- 1.69, 12.4 +/- 1.47 and 13.7 +/- 1.44 ml/sec at the first, second and third repetition respectively (p > 0.05). The mean percentage difference in maximum flow was +8% higher between the first and second attempt, and +4% higher between the second and third attempt. The mean average flow rate, the mean voiding time and the mean flow time values were also found to have insignificantly improved. The mean voided volumes of the patients were 201 +/- 48, 209 +/- 57 and 248 +/- 61 ml, respectively (p > 0.05). The time to void decreased significantly in the second and third attempts (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION Repeating uroflowmetry exhibits a minor improvement in maximum and average flow rates, and voided values in men, while a significant decrease was noted in time to void.