Quality-of-life assessment in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia -Effects of various interventions

A literature search was conducted to review quality-of-life (QOL) measureme nt in patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). The different QOL i nstruments are discussed in relation to their correlation with symptom eval uation in studies of treatment options for BPH. Symptom evaluation of BPH h as been standardised internationally with the International Prostatic Sympt om Score (IPSS), but there is neither agreement nor data to decide which QO L instrument is preferable. The most widely used QOL instrument is the dise ase-specific QOL single question added to the IPSS. Other QOL instruments h ave been used, but none has gained unanimous approval. The results of QOL a ssessments obtained from comparative clinical studies of treatment options for BPH are discussed. These studies compare treatment options such as watc hful waiting, drug treatment and surgery. Disease-specific QOL domains (int erference with daily activities) tend to improve more with treatment interv entions than general health measures (i.e. general well-being). The use of QOL instruments to evaluate patients with BPH, and their many tr eatment options, is still open to debate with regard to which instruments a re preferred and their importance to the clinical evaluation of the patient . The challenge remains to find an acceptable disease-specific QOL instrume nt that adds information to currently used disease measures of BPH.