The Prevalence of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia in Elderly Men in Korea: A Community-Based Study

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The incidence of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is increasing in Korea. However, there are few reports about the prevalence of BPH in elderly men in Korea. We report the prevalence of BPH in elderly men through a community-based study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected data from the Korean Longitudinal Study on Health and Aging (KLoSHA), which was designed as a population-based, prospective study in populations aged>65 years living in Seongnam, Korea. We selected 301 male participants by random sampling. The selected participants were interviewed with the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) questionnaire and were evaluated by physical examination, blood tests, and transrectal ultrasound. The number of analyzed subjects was 236. The definition of BPH was a combination of moderate (8-19) to severe (>19) IPSS and prostate enlargement (>30 g on transrectal ultrasound). RESULTS: The prevalence of BPH was 40% overall and 36% in men in their late 60s (65-69 years), 43% in men in their 70s (70-79 years), and 53% in men over 80 (> or =80 years). BPH prevalence increased according to age but showed no statistically significant differences among the groups (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The overall prevalence of BPH in this study was 40%, which was higher than in other previous epidemiologic studies in Korea. This study suggests an increasing tendency of BPH prevalence in Korea.