Epidemiology of senile prostatic enlargement among elderly men in Arar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

BACKGROUND AND AIM Senile prostatic enlargement due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a common problem among older men, and is responsible for considerable disability. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and determinants of the clinically diagnosed prostatic enlargement among elderly men in Arar, Northern Saudi Arabia. METHODS This cross-sectional study was carried out on all consented elderly males attending the outpatient clinic of the urology department of Arar Central Hospital from February 2017 to July 30, 2017. Each participant underwent a general examination and digital per rectal to detect general chronic diseases, obesity and prostatic enlargement. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 16, using descriptive statistics and Chi-squared test. RESULTS Among 81 elderly male participants in the study, 19.8% had clinically diagnosed senile prostatic enlargement (SPE) and 3.7% had prostatic tumors. There was significant relation between SPE and age as 6.2% of cases were 60-69 years, 43.8% were 70-79 years and 44.0% were 80 years or more (p<0.05). There was also significant relation between SPE and obesity as 62.5% of cases were obese and 37.5% were non obese (p<0.05). There was no significant relation with marital status, smoking or diabetes mellitus (p<0.05). CONCLUSION Senile prostatic enlargement is one of the significant important issues in public health in Arar city, Northern Saudi Arabia. The prevalence of this condition reaches 19.3%, thereby placing even greater burden on the quality of life of the elderly and on the health system in the region.