A HIGH-RISK GROUP FOR PROSTATISM - A POPULATION-BASED EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY IN KOREA

Objective To evaluate the effect of sociodemographic, dietary and phys ical factors on prostatism in Korean men aged 50 and over. Subjects an d methods A community-based cross-sectional epidemiological study was performed in Yonchon County, Korea. The Korean version of the Internat ional Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) was used to assess the severity of prostatism. Data on occupation, marital status, education, smoking ha bits, alcohol intake, daily consumption of nutrients, body mass index, abdominal circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure, serum gl ucose, cholesterol, triglyceride and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) le vels were analysed. The age-adjusted relative risk of these factors wa s calculated for moderate to severe prostatism (IPSS greater than or e qual to 8). A multivariate analysis of all significant factors was per formed to examine the joint effect of risk factors. Results Of 514 sub jects, 119 (23.2%) had moderate to severe prostatism, the risk for whi ch was related to age and alcohol consumption; waist-to-hip ratio (whi ch represents the degree of abdominal obesity) and the serum level of HDL showed a biphasic association with prostatism in the multivariate analysis, Conclusion In addition to previously reported risk factors, these data suggest that there might be an association between the deve lopment of prostatism and abnormal lipid metabolism.