OBJECTIVETo study the epidemiological characteristics of the TCM syndromes of chronic prostatitis (CP) among the male college students in the city of Guangzhou.

METHODSA total of 1 682 male college students were recruited from four colleges in Guangzhou City. The TCM syndromes of the CP patients (n = 561) were grouped according to age, major, residence area, native place, economic condition, interpersonal relation and academic record of the students. And the distribution and incidence rates of the syndromes were statistically analyzed.

RESULTSAmong all the identified syndrome types, the single syndrome accounted for 32.98%; the damp-heat, the blood stasis, the liver- and kidney-yin deficiency and the kidney-yang deficiency syndrome constituted 63.28%, 47.59%, 39.39% and 33.69%, respectively. The incidence rates of blood stasis and liver- and kidney-yin deficiency were significantly different in different age groups (P < 0.01). The medical major group had a higher rate of blood stasis than the non-medical groups (P < 0.01). The rates of damp-heat syndrome and liver- and kidney-yin deficiency syndrome were obviously higher in the northern group than in the southerners (P <0.01 & P < 0.05), and were significantly different between the groups from different native places (P < 0.01) as well as between those of different economic conditions (P < 0.01). Among the groups of different interpersonal relations, significant difference was observed in the rate of liver- and kidney-yin deficiency syndrome (P < 0.01) but not in the rates of other syndromes.

CONCLUSIONThe college students with CP in Guangzhou City mostly have compound TCM syndromes consisting of simple radical ones. The incidence rates of the four main syndrome types, damp-heat, blood stasis, liver- and kidney-yin deficiency and kidney-yang deficiency, are related with the age, major, residence area, native place, economic condition and interpersonal relation of the students.