Introduction to chronic prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS).
Prostatitis is the most frequently diagnosed illness in men under 50, accounting for about 8% of all consultations with urologists. Estimates based on published studies suggest that the incidence of prostatitis in the population is somewhere between 4% and 11%. In 1995 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) classified prostatitis into 4 main categories: 1) acute bacterial; 2) chronic bacterial; 3) pelvic pain syndrome; 4) asymptomatic inflammatory. The aetiological agent most often involved is bacterial, particularly the category of Gram (-) bacteria, followed by Gram (+), chlamydiae and mycoplasms; however many cases of prostatitis are caused by bacteria which are difficult to isolate or …
Prevalence, Incidence Estimation, Risk Factors and Characterization of Chronic Prostatitis/Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome in Urological Hospital Outpatients in Italy: Results of a Multicenter Case-Control Observational Study
Abstract: Purpose: We evaluated the prevalence and estimated the incidence and risk factors of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome in urological hospital outpatients in Italy. Materials and Methods: From January to June 2006 patients from 28 Italian urological centers who were between 25 and 50 years old with symptoms of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome were consecutively enrolled in this prospective epidemiological case-control study. A total of 152 subjects of similar age, race and area of origin who were investigated for infertile couples but were otherwise healthy served as controls. All subjects provided a medical history and underwent different symptom sco…