[Psychosomatic aspects of the chronic pelvic pain syndrome]

Epidemiologic data have demonstrated the significance of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPSS) for the urological practice. Apart from the rare cases of bacterial prostatitis numerous somatic models have failed to completely explain pathogenetic interrelations; therapeutic attempts frequently have produced unsatisfactory results. Additionally, psychosomatic factors have often been neglected. A number of personality variables have turned out to play an important role in questionnaire-based studies, namely somatization and depression, as well as anxiety, hypochondriasis, and weak masculine identity. However, these preliminary results need further evaluation. In the future, diagnostic and therapeutic strategies should pay attention to the complex interweavement of somatic and psychogenic factors in the pathogenesis of CP/CPSS.