Prevalence and Risk Factors of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia among Men Attending Naturopathic Health Centers in the Adenta Municipality

Abstract

Background: Many epidemiological studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and allopathic management in different parts of the world but little is known in the area of naturopathy. The objective of the present study was to establish the prevalence and risk factors of BPH in naturopathic health centers from Adenta Municipality, Ghana. Methods: The study performed a cross-sectional study design to estimate the prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia in naturopathic health centers among respondents aged thirty (30) and above years old. The study also adopted convenience and purposive sampling in selecting its 30 respondents. Results: The prostatic-specific antigen (PSA) of all the respondents was high. The associated risk factors were age, financial challenges, hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, history of prostate and hormonal disturbance, red meat consumption, smoking, alcohol abuse and stress (p-value<0.005) respectively. Majority adopted naturopathic methods of treatment and saw improvement in the symptoms. Naturopathic approaches utilized were diet and clinical nutrition, homeopathy, botanical medicine. Conclusion: The prevalence of BPH is still high among all age groups from the young to old. This is partly due to financial challenges, financial challenges and stress, family history of prostate, high arterial hypertension, diabetes, prostate disturbances, increased cholesterol, red meat consumption, smoking and alcohol abuse. Naturopathic method of treatment can be used to manage BPH.