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.