OBJECTIVETo study the correlation between the severity of psychic symptoms and that of clinical ones in CP patients.

METHODSWe investigated 300 CP patients with NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (CPSI), Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) and a self-designed questionnaire, and analyzed the correlation between the scores. Based on the scores on pain and urinary symptoms in CPSI, the patients were divided into a mild, a moderate and a severe group.

RESULTSA total of 288 questionnaires were collected. Compared with normal males, the SCL-90 scores of the CP patients were not different in obsessive-compulsive (P > 0.05), lower in interpersonal-sensitivity (P < 0.01), higher in paranoid ideation (P < 0.05) and significantly higher in other factors and the number of positive factors (P < 0.01). There were no statistical differences among the mild, moderate and severe groups either in somatization and interpersonal-sensitivity (P > 0.05) or in phobic anxiety (P > 0.05), but there were between the mild and moderate groups in phobic anxiety (P < 0.05) and significantly among the three groups in other factors and the number of positive factors (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). No correlation was found between CPSI and SCL-90 in the total scores.

CONCLUSIONThere was a close correlation between the severity of psychic symptoms and that of clinical symptoms in CP patients. Psychotherapy, especially psychological intervention, plays an important role in the early stage of the disease.