Presentation (CTI)

OBJECTIVES: Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common condition in the US, affecting more than 40 million men aged 60 and older who were diagnosed with BPH. Most medications, such as alpha-blockers and alpha inhibitors, are used for symptom relief over a short timeframe. This study aims to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of alpha blockers among adult patients with BPH in the US.
METHODS: A retrospective cohort study design utilizing historical data from the MEPS database (panels 22-27) was employed. The outcome indicator used the physical and mental health summary score from patient-reported outcomes in each panel, round 2, as the baseline and round 4 as the follow-up. The alternative comparator group is patients received treatment with 5-alpha reductase inhibitors. To avoid confounding bias, propensity score matching was used, including variables such as race, age, comorbidities, and insurance status. We utilized linear regression to estimate the treatment effect on change in quality of life.
RESULTS: The total number of patients in the final sample meeting the inclusion criteria before matching (557) and after matching (362). The mean physical health summary score at baseline and follow-up was 42.99 and 43.19. The finding shows that the average treatment effect on alpha blocker users of both mental and physical health-related quality of life was not statistically significant, with mental health quality of life (β = 0.177, p-value = 0.851) and health-related quality of life.
CONCLUSIONS: Other studies suggest that alpha-receptor blockers are necessary for short-term symptom relief in BPH syndrome. However, the study findings indicate that there is no effect on change in quality of life. This could be the patient-reported outcome assessment, which was conducted using the SF-36. Therefore, future research should consider patient-reported outcomes by designing disease-specific patient-reported outcome assessments since the SF-36 is generic and not sensitive to changes.