Quality of life is impaired in men with chronic prostatitis: the Chronic Prostatitis Collaborative Research Network.

OBJECTIVE: Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) impairment may be a central component of chronic prostatitis for men afflicted with this condition. Our objective was to examine HRQOL, and factors associated with HRQOL, using both general and condition-specific instruments.

DESIGN: Chronic Prostatitis Cohort (CPC) study.

SETTING: Six clinical research centers across the United States and Canada.

PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred seventy-eight men with chronic prostatitis.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The Short Form 12 (SF-12) Mental Component Summary (MCS) and Physical Component Summary (PCS), and the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) were measures used. CPC subjects' MCS scores (44.0 +/- 9.8) were lower than those observed in the most severe subgroups of patients with congestive heart failure and diabetes mellitus, and PCS scores (46.4+/-9.5) were worse than those among the general U.S. male population. Decreasing scores were seen in both domains with worsening symptom severity (P < .01). History of psychiatric disease and younger age were strongly associated with worse MCS scores, whereas history of rheumatologic disease was associated with worse PCS scores. Predictors of more severe NIH-CPSI scores included lower educational level and lower income; history of rheumatic disease was associated with higher scores.

CONCLUSIONS: Men with chronic prostatitis experience impairment in the mental and physical domains of general HRQOL, as well as condition-specific HRQOL. To optimize the care of men with this condition, clinicians should consider administering HRQOL instruments to their patients to better understand the impact of the condition on patients' lives.