Comorbidities in a Nationwide, Heterogenous Population of Veterans with Interstitial Cystitis/Bladder Pain Syndrome.

Abstract Objective To examine the prevalence of comorbid conditions in a nationwide population of men and women with IC/BPS utilizing a more heterogeneous sample than most studies to date. Methods Using the Veterans Affairs Informatics and Computing Infrastructure, we identified random samples of male and female patients with and without an ICD-9/ICD-10 diagnosis of IC/BPS. Presence of comorbidities (NUAS [chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines], back pain, diabetes, and smoking) and psychosocial factors (alcohol abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual trauma, and history of depression) were determined using ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes. Associations between these variables and IC/BPS status were evaluated while adjusting for the potential confounding impact of race/ethnicity, age, and gender. Results Data was analyzed from 872 IC/BPS patients (355 [41%] men, 517 [59%] women) and 558 non-IC/BPS patients (291 [52%] men, 267 [48%] women). IC/BPS patients were more likely than non-IC/BPS patients to have a greater number of comorbidities (2.72+/-1.77 vs 1.73+/-1.30, p Conclusions These findings validate the findings of previous comorbidity studies of IC/BPS in a more diverse population.