[Diagnostic and therapeutic management of the benign prostatic hyperplasia by the general practitioners in the Maine-et-Loire]

Aim: To assess the diagnosis and therapeutic management of the benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) by the general practitioners (GPs) in the Maine-et-Loire.

Patient and methods: A questionnaire evaluating the management of BPH was sent to the 686 GPs of the Maine-et-Loire between March and June 2008.

Results: One hundred and seventy-one GPs answered. Among them 24% were women, 35.1% worked in urban areas, 34.5% worked in semi-urban areas and 30.4% worked in rural areas. 17.5 % had been working less than 10 years, 29.2% had been working between 10 and 20 years and 53.2% had been working more than 20 years. The medical interview, the digital rectal examination (DRE) and the assay of the prostatic serum antigen (PSA) were performed by more than 90% of the GPs whereas the ultrasound scan and the international prostatic score symptom (IPSS) were respectively used by only 15,2 and 69,6% of them. Phytotherapy, alphablockers and inhibitors of 5 alpha reductase were respectively prescribed by 85.4, 95.3 and 53.8% of the GPs. 96.5% of the GPs addressed the patient to a urologist after the failure of the first line treatment. There were no differences according to the working environment. Women performed less DRE (p<0.0001) and sent more patients to urologist than men (p=0.0197). Finally, 88.9% of the GPs were interested in having an update on the last recommendations.

Conclusion: The GPs diagnosed BPH and initiated the first line treatment. In case of failure, they sent the patients to a urologist. Their primary treatment management was not really in adequation with the recommendations. The recent therapeutic innovations may explain this discordance between the clinical practice and the recommendations. It is noteworthy that most of the GPs who answered this survey were keen in having an update on the recent advances in the BPH management.