PREVALENCE AND CORRELATES OF PROSTATITIS IN THE HEALTH PROFESSIONALS FOLLOW-UP STUDY COHORT

COLLINS, MARY McNAUGHTON
MEIGS, JAMES B.
BARRY, MICHAEL J.
CORKERY, ELIZABETH WALKER
GIOVANNUCCI, EDWARD
KAWACHI, ICHIRO

From the General Medicine Division, Medical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Health and Social Behavior, Harvard School of Public Health, Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts

Editor’s Note : This article is the fifth of 5 published in this issue for which category 1 CME credits can be earned. Instructions for obtaining credits are given with the questions on pages 1454 and 1455.

^* Recipient of a Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Award.

Accepted for publication September 21, 2001.

Supported by Grants CA55075, DK45779 and DK53736 from the National Institutes of Health Grant HS 08397 and from the Agency for Health Research and Quality.

Journal of Urology 167(3):p 1363-1366, March 2002.

Purpose

Prostatitis is an ill-defined condition whose symptoms overlap with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Little is known about the prevalence and correlates of prostatitis, or factors that distinguish prostatitis from BPH. We examined these issues in a large, nationwide sample of healthy men.

Materials and Methods

In 1992, 31,681 United States health professionals without prostate cancer provided information on urological diagnoses, lower urinary tract symptoms, and demographic, clinical and lifestyle factors. We calculated age adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for these correlates predicting a history of prostatitis. We also compared characteristics of men with prostatitis to those with BPH.

Results

The prevalence of a self-reported history of prostatitis was 16%. Men reporting a history of BPH had 7.7-fold greater odds of a history of prostatitis, those with moderate or severe lower urinary tract symptoms had 1.8 and 2.8-fold greater odds, respectively, those with a history of sexually transmitted disease had 1.8-fold greater odds and those reporting stress at home or work had 1.5- and 1.2-fold greater odds, respectively. The 2,163 men with prostatitis alone were younger and had less severe urinary tract symptoms (but a similar pattern of symptoms) than the 4,575 men with BPH alone.

Conclusions

Self-reported prostatitis was common among healthy men of all ages but there was considerable overlap with self-reported BPH. Prostatitis had several identifiable correlates that may aid in its recognition.