Risk of subsequently developing lower urinary tract symptoms in patients with plantar fasciitis: A nationwide, population-based study.

Plantar fasciitis (PF) is rarely considered to be associated with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). However, PF and LUTS are closely connected within the theory of traditional Chinese medicine and the myofascial meridian system. This study explored the association between PF and LUTS. We conducted a retrospective population-based cohort study using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients with a diagnosis of PF <3 times within half a year, aged <18 years, or diagnosed with LUTS before the diagnosis of PF were excluded. After exclusion, we enrolled a non-PF group through propensity-matching (1:1) by age, gender, and prior lack of LUTS history. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that patients with PF had an increased risk of LUTS (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.35; 95% confidence interval, 1.23-1.47) compared with non-PF patients after adjustment. Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated that the cumulative incidence of LUTS in the PF group was significantly higher than that in the non-PF group (P ≤ .001). Further analyses revealed that PF was an independent factor associated with an increased risk of developing LUTS in subgroups of both sexes, aged ≤50 years and >50 years, and with a follow-up period of ≤ 5 years and > 5 years. This is the first study demonstrating that patients diagnosed with PF have an increased risk of subsequently developing LUTS. Further research is needed to clarify the causal relationship between PF and LUTS.