Prostate symptoms in general practice: seriousness and inconvenience.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the seriousness and inconvenience of prostatism in a general practice population and to assess the consultation with the general practitioner (GP) in relation to seriousness of prostatism.

DESIGN

A questionnaire was sent to a random sample of 979 men aged 50 years and over from two general practices in a village, and two in a city in the western part of The Netherlands.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Seriousness and inconvenience of prostatism according to the Symptom Index for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. Consultation with the GP for urinary symptoms.

RESULTS

The prevalence of prostatism with moderate to severe symptoms was 20%. The majority (60%) of the men with prostatism did not consult their GP with these symptoms, and one fifth (19%) felt "mostly dissatisfied" to "terrible" due to their symptoms. Of this last group, a few (1.4% of the total population) nevertheless did not consult their GP.

CONCLUSIONS

Prostatism is a symptom complex caused not only by benign prostate hyperplasia. Prostatism is under-reported in general practice. Men with micturition problems should be encouraged to consult their practitioner.