Prostatism and the burden of benign prostatic hyperplasia on elderly men.

All men aged 40-79 years registered with two group general practices in Central Scotland were enumerated. Four hundred and ten men (249 in the working age group 40-64 years and 161 in retirement ages 65-79 years satisfied predetermined criteria for clinical benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) of prostatic weight > 20 g in the presence of urinary dysfunction and without evidence of malignancy. Despite a higher prevalence of BPH among the retirement group (428/1000) compared with men of working ages (202/1000), there were virtually no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of annoyance and interference in daily living activities caused by urinary dysfunction, frequency of urinary symptoms, or medical consultations for BPH. Although elderly men with BPH changed their lifestyle as a result of urinary dysfunction, only a low proportion of them disclosed their difficulties to a doctor. Increased education of the public and health care professionals about the nature and magnitude of the problem of BPH in elderly men is required.