Abstract

Background and objectives: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and overweight (BMI: > 25–30 kg/m2) are both highly prevalent amongst Bahraini males. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between BPH and overweight.

Methods: The study included 141 male patients who visited the Urology outpatient clinics between 1st April 2018 and 31st May 2018. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated and diagnosis of prostate enlargement was recorded along with prostate volume (ml) and prostate specific antigen (PSA). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 23. Pearson correlation coefficient “r” and regression analysis were performed for prostate volume and PSA in relation to BMI. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: Among 141 male patients, 67 (47.5%) were overweight and had prostate enlargement, 50 (35.4%) were overweight with normal prostate, 10 (7.1%) were normal weight with prostate enlargement, and 14 (10.0%) had normal weight with normal prostate. The odds ratio was calculated as 1.876. This signifies that an overweight male is at 1.876 times higher risk of developing prostate enlargement compared to a male with normal weight. Overweight had a statistically significant positive linear correlation with incremental increases in prostate volume (r = 0.4; B = 0.85; P = 0.012).

Conclusion: There is evidence to support the hypothesis that overweight BMI is associated with a higher risk of development of prostate enlargement. The higher the BMI, the larger the prostatevolume; however, the same association was not observed with PSA.

Keywords: Benign prostatic hyperplasia, body mass index, overweight, prostate specific antigen, prostate volume