RESUMO
The prevalence of urinary symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia(BPH) was studied in a community-based, representative sample of 519 men over 50 years old for estimation of prevalence of BPH in Korea. Symptoms were assessed by the Korean version of International Prostatic Symptom Score(IPSS). Only 5(1%) men reported having undergone prostate surgery due to BPH and excluded from analysis. Among 514 men, nocturia and weak stream were the most prevalent symptoms and urgency was the least. Based on the IPSS, 31.7% of the men were free of urinary symptoms(IPSS 0), 45.1%, 18.7% and 4.5% of the men were minimally(IPSS 1-7), moderately(IPSS 8-19) and severely(IPSS 20-35) symptomatic, respectively. The proportion of severely symptomatic men approximately doubled with each decade of age. A good correlation was found between the total symptom score and the single disease-specific quality of life score that is included in the IPSS. Our estimation indicated that in 1995 approximately 800,000 Korean men had moderate to severe urinary symptoms that were likely to be associated with BPH. These results suggest that the prevalence of BPH in Korean men is substantially similar to Caucasian.