[Medication versus health education for patients with type Ⅲ prostatitis-like symptoms: A prospective randomized...

To investigate the necessity of medication for patients with type Ⅲ prostatitis-like symptoms for less than 3 months.

We enrolled in this study 171 outpatients with type Ⅲ prostatitis-like symptoms for less than 3 months in our hospital from November 2016 to October 2017, and randomly divided them into groups A (n = 57), B (n = 57) and C (n = 57). The patients of group A received tamsulosin, levofloxacin and health education, those of group B tamsulosin and health education, and those of group C health education only. Three months later, we evaluated the therapeutic effects according to the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI) scores of the patients, 4-point reduction in the total score indicating effectiveness.

After 3 months of treatment, the total NIH-CPSI scores of the patients in groups A, B and C were decreased by (9.0 ± 2.9), (8.2 ± 3.4) and (8.6 ± 3.2) points respectively, all indicating effectiveness, the pain scores (4.2 ± 1.8), (4.0 ± 1.9) and (4.2 ± 1.6) points, the urinary symptom scores decreased by decreased by (2.4 ± 1.2), (2.4 ± 1.4) and (2.2 ± 1.2) points, and quality of life scores decreased by (2.4 ± 1.4), (1.9 ± 1.4) and (2.2 ± 1.3) points, none with statistically significant difference among the three groups (P > 0.05).

Health education is proved to have a therapeutic effect on type Ⅲ prostatitis-like symptoms similar to that of alpha receptor blockers.