Influence of environmental factors on chronic prostatitis-like symptoms in young men: results of a community-based survey.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the influence of environmental factors on chronic prostatitis-like symptoms among young men in a community.


METHODS
Of 28,841 men aged 20 years dwelling in the community, a total of 16,321 men (response rate 56.6%) were included in this study. The National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index was used to identify men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. The questionnaire also queried sociodemographic characteristics. The Korean Meteorological Administration provided information on the weather of the community. We determined the risk factors of chronic prostatitis-like symptoms among these environmental factors using univariate and multivariate analyses.


RESULTS
Six percent of the men were identified as having significant prostatitis-like symptoms (perineal and/or ejaculatory pain and a total pain score of 4 or greater). The univariate logistic regression analysis indicated that education level, average duration of sunlight, and average temperature were risk factors for chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. As these variables increased, the scores of chronic prostatitis-like symptoms decreased. In the multivariate model used, the likelihood of chronic prostatitis-like symptoms varied by the final educational level, with middle school and high school graduates having 1.8 and 1.4-fold higher odds, respectively, than men attending college. In the same model, the average duration of sunlight was also an independent risk factor of chronic prostatitis-like symptoms (odds ratio 0.85; 95% confidence interval 0.77 to 0.95; P = 0.003), but the average temperature lost statistical significance.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that the community-based prevalence of chronic prostatitis-like symptoms may be high in young men. Higher education and a longer time in sunlight were associated with a decreased likelihood of chronic prostatitis-like symptoms.
Ku
J H
JH
Department of Urology, Military Manpower Administration, Taejeon, South Korea.
Kim
M E
ME
Lee
N K
NK
Park
Y H
YH
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D004542:Ejaculation; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D010502:Perineum; D015995:Prevalence; D011472:Prostatitis / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012621:Seasons; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors