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The Chronic Prostatitis Collaborative Research Network

Arch Intern Med. 2004;164:1231-1236.

Background  Little information exists on the economic impact of chronic prostatitis. The objective of this study was to determine the direct and indirect costs associated with chronic prostatitis.

Methods  Outcomes were assessed using a questionnaire designed to capture health care resource utilization. Resource estimates were converted into unit costs with direct medical cost estimates based on hospital cost-accounting data and indirect costs based on modified labor force, employment, and earnings data from the US Census Bureau.

Results  The total direct costs for the 3 months prior to entry into the cohort, excluding hospitalization, were $126 915 for the 167 study participants for an average of $954 per person among the 133 consumers. Of the men, 26% reported work loss valued at an average of $551. The average total costs (direct and indirect) for the 3 months was $1099 per person for those 137 men who had resource consumption with an expected annual total cost per person of $4397. For those study participants with any incurred costs, tests for association revealed that the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (P<.001) and each of the 3 subcategories of pain (P = .003), urinary function (P = .03), and quality-of-life (P = .002) were significantly associated with resource use, although the quality-of-life subscale score from the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index was the only predictor of resource consumption.

Conclusions  Chronic prostatitis is associated with substantial costs and lower quality-of-life scores, which predicted resource consumption. The economic impact of chronic prostatitis warrants increased medical attention and resources to identify and test effective treatment strategies.

From the Department of Urology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Ill (Dr Calhoun); the General Medicine Unit, Medical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (Dr Collins); the Department of Urology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pa (Dr Pontari); the Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School, and the Division of Urologic Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass (Dr O'Leary); the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia (Dr Landis and Mr Leiby); the Division of Kidney, Urologic, and Hematologic Diseases, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md (Dr Kusek); and the Departments of Urology and Health Services, University of California, Los Angeles (Dr Litwin).
The authors have no relevant financial interest in this article.

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