Abstract:
Background: Prostate diseases are a common problem worldwide. This study was aimed at
o establishing the clinical characteristics of patients diagnosed to have prostate diseases in
the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret, Kenya.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional, hospital based, descriptive study undertaken in the
Urology Outpatient Clinic and Surgical Ward of MTRH. A total of 219 patients aged 50
years and above with prostate diseases were recruited into an Institutional Research and
Ethics Committee (IREC) approved study after granting a formal consent. The primary
outcome measure was the clinical characteristics of patients with acute prostatitis, Benign
Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) and Prostate Cancer in MTRH. The secondary outcome
measures were the demographic data and co morbidities.
Results: Patients’ ages ranged from 50 to 96 years with a mean of 65.4 s.d. ± 10.2 years.
The majority (68%) of them presented with a past history of urinary retention; 71.7% had
palpably enlarged prostate on DRE. The annual incidence of prostate diseases in the
Urology Clinic was 31.1% with the prevalence of Acute Prostatitis, BPH and Prostate Cancer
being 1.8%, 63.9% and 34.3% respectively. Only 28.3% of the patients had PSA levels in the
laboratory normal range of 0-4ng/ml. There was a 32.4% surgical rate in the care of these
patients with Trans-Urethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP) accounting for 57.8% of the
surgeries and 68.3% of the operations on the prostate.
Conclusion: Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) is the leading clinical pathology in
indigenous black African patients presenting with prostate diseases in MTRH despite high
PSA levels. Majority of these patients have enlarged prostates and history of urine
retention.
Recommendations: The standard approaches of clinical assessment and PSA are wanting in
many aspects and the Caucasian studies may not truly reflect on indigenous black Africans.
It is recommended that this be borne in mind as diagnoses of the various prostate diseases
are made.
