Prevalence of benign prostatic hyperplasia in Turkish men admitted to the urology department.

Objectives: The prevalence of clinical benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) i s known in Western European countries and in North America, but epidemiolog ical data are lacking for Eastern European and Balkan countries. The object ive of this study was to determine the prevalence of BPH in this region. Methods: We analysed the data obtained on patients with BPH reported by uro logists from 48 hospitals in Turkey in 1996. This analysis is based on 84, 149 case files for patients aged 40 to 80 Nears and more. Results: The overall prevalence of clinical BPH was 18.5%. The age-specific predominance of BPH reached a maximum for the 60-69 years age-group. A maj ority of cases of BPH were treated medically (54.7% of cases). Conclusion: The data are discussed in the light of our current knowledge. O ur presentation is the first report concerning the prevalence of clinical B PH in our region, but it needs to be completed to determine the prevalence of clinical BPH in relation to age, country and race in the Balkans and the Middle East.