A STATISTICAL STUDY OF THE AMERICAN-UROLOGICAL-ASSOCIATION SYMPTOM INDEX FOR BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERPLASIA IN PARTICIPANTS OF MASS-SCREENINGPROGRAM FOR PROSTATIC DISEASES USING TRANSRECTAL SONOGRAPHY

Purpose: A study was done on the prevalence of urinary symptoms in com munity based populations in Japan regarding the influences of aging an d benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) as evaluated by transrectal sonog raphy. Materials and Methods: In 961 Japanese men 55 to 87 years old w ho underwent mass screening for prostatic diseases the American Urolog ical Association symptom index scores were compared with age and ultra sonic diagnosis of the prostate. Results: Moderate to severe symptoms (symptom score 8 or more) were found in 265 of our 961 samples (27.6%) , while BPH was also recognized ultrasonically in 197 (20.5%). Frequen cies of urinary symptoms and BPH increased significantly with age. BPH related increase in total symptom scores occurred only in select men when adjusted by age. Conclusions: The ability of the American Urologi cal Association symptom index to characterize BPH in an individual was limited because of the lack of specificity to the disease along with the considerable influence of aging on the symptom score. Currently, t ransrectal sonography is the most reliable method for the definitive d iagnosis of BPH.