Influence of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms

BACKGROUND: Our aims in the present study were to estimate the influences of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life, and to determine which of these two variables has the most predictive power with respect to quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. METHODS: Chronic prostatitis-like symptoms were measured by the National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index. Of the 28,841 men aged 20 years who lived in the study community, 18,495 men (a response rate 64.1%) agreed to participate in the study. A total of 1057 men who complained of symptoms indicative of chronic prostatitis were included in the study. The influences of pain and urinary symptoms on quality of life were determined using logistic regression analysis. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to estimate the predictive ability of each of these variables with respect to quality of life. RESULTS: Results from multivariate analysis showed that both pain and urinary symptoms were associated with an increased likelihood of impaired quality of life, although pain contributed more to a reduced quality of life than urinary symptoms. Relative to men who experienced mild pain, men who experienced moderate pain had a 3.9-fold risk of poor quality of life (odds ratio [OR], 3.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.86-5.23; P < 0.001) and those who experienced severe pain had a 15.7-fold risk of reduced quality of life (OR, 15.68; 95% CI, 6.59-37.35; P < 0.001). Moderate urinary symptoms were associated with a 1.4-fold risk of bother (OR, 1.41; 95% CI, 1.01-1.99; P < 0.001) and severe urinary symptoms were associated with 2.4-fold risk (OR, 2.39; 95% CI, 1.37-4.12; P < 0.001), relative to mild urinary symptoms. Comparison of the effects of pain and urinary symptoms showed that pain severity had the most predictive power for bother, quality of life, and quality-of-life impact. The areas under the ROC curves for bother, quality of life, and quality-of-life impact were 71.3%, 69.3% and 72.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Urinary symptoms and pain might be associated with an increased likelihood of impaired quality of life in young men with chronic prostatitis-like symptoms. In addition, our findings suggest that pain severity is the most influential variable for determining quality of life in this population.     

Comparative study of laser versus radiofrequency myringotomy in rabbits: The effectiveness of mitomycin C application.

OBJECTIVE: To compare laser-assisted tympanostomy (LAT) with radiofrequency myringotomy (RFM), as well as the effectiveness of mitomycin C (MC) on the above techniques, in rabbits. STUDY DESIGN: Experimental animal research protocol. SETTING: University of Crete, School of Medicine, Medical Experimental Education and Research Center. METHODS: Bilateral myringotomies were performed under general anesthesia on 40 rabbits. LAT was performed on 20 animals (40 ears) and RFM on the remaining 20 animals (40 ears). MC (0.3 mg/mL) pledgets were applied to the right ears and saline pledgets to the left ears. Animals were monitored weekly using otomicroscopy until myringotomy closure. Kaplan-Meier survival techniques were used to compare myringotomy patency times. INTERVENTIONS: Under general anesthesia, bilateral LAT was performed on 20 rabbits and bilateral RFM on 20 rabbits. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Myringotomy patency time. RESULTS: The mean patency times of the saline-treated ears were: 1.85 weeks (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.556-2.144 wk) for the LAT group and 1.70 weeks (95% CI, 1.494-1.906 wk) for the RFM group. This difference was not significant (p > 0.5). MC application significantly prolonged mean patency time (p < 0.0001) in both LAT and RFM groups. The mean patency times in the MC-treated ears were 5.45 weeks (95% CI, 5.226-5.674 wk) for the LAT group and 5.55 weeks (95% CI, 5.285-5.815 wk) for the RFM group. This difference was not significant (p > 0.5). CONCLUSION: There is no significant difference in myringotomy patency times between LAT and RFM techniques in rabbits, whereas MC significantly prolongs the patency rate of either technique.     

Serum lipids, apoproteins and nutrient intake in rural Cretan boys consuming high-olive-oil diets

A high intake of olive oil has produced high levels of high-density and low levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in short-term dietary trials. To investigate long-term effects of olive oil we have studied the diet and serum lipids of boys in Crete, where a high olive oil consumption is the norm. Seventy-six healthy rural Cretan boys aged 7-9 years were studied. The diet was assessed by a 2-day dietary recall. Blood was collected according to a standardized protocol and sera were analyzed in a rigidly standardized laboratory. The mean daily intake of energy was 11.0 MJ (2629 kcal). The intake of fat (45.0% of energy) and oleic acid (27.2% of energy) was high, and that of saturated fat low (10.0% of energy), reflecting a high consumption of olive oil. The high consumption of olive oil was confirmed by a high proportion of oleic-acid (27.1%) in serum cholesteryl fatty acids. Mean concentration of serum total cholesterol was 4.42 mmol l-1 (171 mg dl-1), of HDL-cholesterol 1.40 mmol l-1 (54 mg dl-1), of serum triglycerides 0.59 mmol l-1 (52 mg dl-1), of apo-AI 1210 mg l-1 and of LDL apo-B 798 mg l-1. The body mass index of the Cretan boys (18.2 kg m-2) was on average 2 kg m-2 higher than that of boys from other countries. Contrary to our expectation, the Cretan boys did not show a more favourable serum lipoprotein pattern than boys from more westernized countries studied previously using the same protocol. Our hypothesis that a typical, olive-oil-rich Cretan diet causes a relatively high HDL- to total cholesterol ratio is not supported by the present findings.