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Wiley InterScience | ||||||||||||||||
  BJU InternationalVolume 92 Issue 9, Pages 955 - 959 Published Online: 24 Nov 2003 © 2010 BJU International
Abstract | References | Full Text: HTML, PDF (Size: 72K) | Related Articles | Citation Tracking  Prevalence, diagnosis and treatment of prostatitis in Italy: a prospective urology outpatient practice study Presented in part at the American Society for Microbiology Annual Meeting, September 27–30, 2002, San Diego, CA Copyright 2003 BJU INTERNATIONAL KEYWORDS prostatitis • chronic pelvic pain syndrome • prevalence • Italy OBJECTIVE
To report a prospective, multicentre descriptive study designed to determine the prevalence of the diagnosis of prostatitis in male outpatients examined by urologists in Italy, and to further examine the diagnostic evaluation and treatment of patients identified with a clinical diagnosis of prostatitis. PATIENTS AND METHODSBetween July 2001 and October 2001, 70 urologists, representing a cross-section of urological centres in Italy, counted and recorded the overall total of men reported in the clinic and that of patients diagnosed with prostatitis over a 5-week period. Data on demographics, previous diagnoses, symptoms, physical examination, laboratory data and therapy instituted were collected. Patients with a diagnosis of prostatitis completed questionnaires on symptom frequency and severity, and quality of life. RESULTSIn all, 8503 patients were included in the primary outcome analysis; 1148 were identified with prostatitis (12.8%; mean age 47.1 years, range 16–83) with all age ranges equally represented, and 68% had had their first symptom within the last year. The most common presenting symptoms were severe, bothersome urinary frequency, obstructive voiding symptoms, perineal, suprapubic and penile pain or discomfort. The self-administered questionnaire confirmed that the most frequently reported and most severe symptoms at the time of evaluation were irritative voiding symptoms, perineal and suprapubic pain and discomfort. Over three-quarters of the patients were dissatisfied with their quality of life. While 98% of the patients had a digital rectal examination and expressed prostatic secretion was successfully recovered in 44%, < 3% of the patients had the traditional Meares-Stamey four-glass test. The most common treatment prescribed was drug therapy (not antibiotic). CONCLUSIONThe prevalence of a clinical diagnosis of prostatitis in urology outpatient practice in Italy was 12.8%. The prevalence, diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of prostatitis reported in this prospective study was very similar to that reported in other retrospective series from other countries. Accepted for publication 14 July 2003 | 
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