title: A prospective study of symptoms and quality of life in men with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome: the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We present the results of 2 years of symptom and quality of life followup of men with CP/CPPS enrolled in the CPC.
  
  
  METHODS
  We followed 445 subjects from 6 clinical centers across North America for 2 years with outcome measures that included the NIH-CPSI, quality of life, and GRA. All subjects were treated according to usual care practices at each clinical site.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 445 subjects 293 had complete data at 2 years. Withdrawals were younger, had been diagnosed more recently and had higher baseline symptoms. Among the 293 men the mean improvement at 2 years was 5 points on the 43-point NIH-CPSI total score. Most of the observed improvement occurred in the first 3 months of followup. Among all 445 subjects, retaining withdrawals in the denominator, 31% considered themselves moderately or markedly improved at 2 years. Although group mean symptom scores were stable and improved slightly over time, some individual subjects reported large fluctuations. No baseline demographic or clinical factors significantly predicted changes in symptom scores over time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CP/CPPS is a chronic disease characterized by substantial variation in symptoms within and among subjects. There is no evidence that the disorder worsens significantly during 2 years of followup, and for about a third of men with long-standing symptoms there may be moderate to marked improvement during this period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-6021, USA. kpropert@cceb.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Kathleen Joy
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Propert
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McNaughton-Collins
authors.forename: Benjamin E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Leiby
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: O'Leary
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kusek
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Litwin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017699:Pelvic Pain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011472:Prostatitis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011788:Quality of Life