Epidemiologic Study of Chronic Prostatitis-like Symptoms Surveyed among Young Men in the Area of Taejeon and Chung-nam: Prevalence and Influence of Weather

Ku, Ja Hyeon; Lee, Sang Hoon; Jeon, Youn Soo; Kim, Min Eui; Lee, Nam Kyu; Park, Young Ho

Abstract

PURPOSE
In order to evaluate the prevalence and influence of weather on chronic prostatitis-like symptoms, young men dwelling in the community were surveyed using the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index. MATERIALS AND MTHODS: Between May and November 2000, a total of 28,841 male residents in the area of Taejeon and Chung-nam visited the Military Manpower Administration. The 16,321 participants (response rate 56.6%) completed a self-administered questionnaire. The data collected was then used to estimate the prevalence of chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. The Korea Meteorological Administration provided information on the weather including the amount of sunlight and rainfall, and the average temperature. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the risk factors for chronic prostatitis-like symptoms.
RESULTS
The prevalence of chronic prostatitis-like symptoms in these subjects was approximately 6%. The participants with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms had higher scores of each domain than the normal population (p<0.001). Univariate logistic regression analysis indicated that the amount of rainfall was not a risk factor for chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. In the multivariate model used, the amount of sunlight and the average temperature were independent predictors of chronic prostatitis-like symptoms (odds ratio, 0.860; p=0.005 and odds ratio, 0.989; p=0.049, respectively) in these subjects.
CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that the prevalence of chronic prostatitis-like symptoms is high even in young men and the amount of sunlight as well as the average temperature may be risk factors for chronic prostatitis-like symptoms.