CRITERION VALIDATION OF THE NOTTINGHAM HEALTH PROFILE - PATIENT VIEWSOF SURGERY FOR BENIGN PROSTATIC HYPERTROPHY

As part of a prospective cohort study of 388 men undergoing TURP for b enign prostatic hypertrophy, the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) was s elf-administered before and at 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. By co mparison of pre- and post-operative NHP scores with other patient-repo rted health measures the criterion validity of the Profile was examine d. Before surgery, statistically significant linear trends were observ ed for increasing NHP score (i.e. having more health problems) with bo th worsening self-rated general health and increasing severity of pros tatic symptoms. One year after surgery, the extent of reduction in NHP score was significantly linearly associated with a perceived favourab le outcome of surgery and to a lesser extent with a reduction in prost atic symptoms. In addition, changes in NHP scores during follow-up wer e associated with perceived changes in operative outcome during the sa me period, patients with the greatest reduction in NHP score tending t o report more successful surgery at 12 months than at the 3 month asse ssment.