An online UPOINT tool for phenotyping patients with chronic prostatitis

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Andrology
• Digital Health

Background:

• Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) presents complex clinical phenotypes.
• Evaluating these phenotypes is crucial for effective patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the clinical phenotypes of CP/CPPS patients using a web-based tool.
• To compare these online-derived phenotypes with those from patients evaluated in a tertiary referral clinic.

Main Methods:

• 720 men completed an online assessment tool for UPOINT phenotype and NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) scores.
• Data was compared to 220 patients evaluated in person at a tertiary referral clinic.

Main Results:

• Web-based cohort showed correlations between NIH-CPSI scores and UPOINT domains (p < 0.0001).
• Clinic-based patients had fewer UPOINT positive domains (2.9 vs. 3.6) but worse quality-of-life and total NIH-CPSI scores (p < 0.0052).

Conclusions:

• Online tools can effectively phenotype CP/CPPS, showing similar correlations to traditional methods.
• While clinic-based evaluations revealed slightly worse symptom severity, the differences were minor, suggesting the utility of online assessment tools.