Quality of life of patients on the waiting list for benign prostatic hyperplasia surgery.

Abstract

To assess the quality of life (QoL) of patients on the waiting list for benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) surgery and the relationship between prostate symptoms and QoL. Our study included 189 BPH patients on the waiting list for surgery, during the period from January to December 1999. A survey was conducted to obtain information on sociodemographic characteristics, associated illnesses, prostate symptoms based on the International Prostate Symptoms Score (I-PSS), and QoL based on the 36-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Moreover, the case history, prostate volume measured by ultrasound, and uroflowmetry results were considered. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted based on the scores recorded on the SF-36 scales and the other variables. The mean age was 68.8 +/- 6.9 SD. A total of 70.4% of the subjects had other chronic illnesses, 54.1% had severe symptoms (I-PSS > 19), and 69.8% reported that they were extremely dissatisfied with their symptoms. A total of 29.6% of the patients had urethral catheters. The SF-36 scale with the highest scores was social functioning (79.9, 95% CI: 76.5-83.4), whereas the lowest scores referred to role-physical (58.2, 95% CI: 52.3-64.1). Patients with more severe symptoms assigned lower scores to the physical functioning, vitality, social functioning, mental health, role-emotional and mental component summary (MCS) scales. Irritative symptoms were associated with lower vitality, social functioning, mental health and MCS. Patients with urethral catheters recorded lower scores on the physical functioning and role-physical scales. The QoL of BPH patients on the waiting list for surgery is poorer than that of the general population of the same age. The increased severity of prostate symptoms, particularly the irritative symptoms, leads to a poorer QoL in terms of nearly all aspects of QoL. However, this correlation was not observed for prostate volume nor uroflowmetry data.