Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Stress is associated with subsequent pain and disability among men with nonbacterial prostatitis/pelvic pain

  • Published:
Annals of Behavioral Medicine

Abstract

Background: Nonbacterial prostatitis is a syndrome characterized by persistent pelvic area pain in men with or without voiding symptoms. Its causes are poorly understood, and evidence-based treatments are lacking. Although psychological stress has been proposed as an etiological factor, the literature lacks prospective studies using standardized measures to examine associations between stress and male pelvic pain problems over time.Purpose: This study examined whether perceived stress was associated longitudinally with pain intensity and pain-related disability in a sample of men with nonbacterial prostatitis/pelvic pain.Methods: Men (N = 224) completed measures of perceived stress, pain intensity, and pain-related disability 1 month after a health care visit with a new nonbacterial prostatitis/pelvic pain diagnosis and 3, 6, and 12 months later.Results: Greater perceived stress during the 6 months after the health care visit was associated with greater pain intensity (p = .03) and disability (p = .003) at 12 months, even after controlling for age, symptom duration, and pain and disability during the first 6 months.Conclusions: These findings support further research into the associations between stress and male pelvic pain syndromes, as well as the assessment of stress in the evaluation of patients with pelvic pain.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Krieger JN, Egan KJ, Ross SO, Jacobs R, Berger RE: Chronic pelvic pains represent the most prominent urogenital symptoms of chronic prostatitis.Urology. 1996,48:715–721.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. McNaughton Collins MM, MacDonald R, Wilt TJ: Diagnosis and treatment of chronic abacterial prostatitis: A systematic review.Annals of Internal Medicine. 2000,133:367–381.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. McNaughton Collins MM, Stafford RS, O’Leary MP, Barry MJ: How common is prostatitis? A national survey of physician visits.Journal of Urology. 1998,159:1224–1228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. McNaughton Collins M, Meigs JB, Barry MJ, et al.: Prevalence and correlates of prostatitis in the health professionals follow-up study cohort.Journal of Urology. 2002,167:1363–1366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Roberts RO, Jacobson DJ, Girman CJ, et al.: Prevalence of prostatitis-like symptoms in a community based cohort of older men.Journal of Urology. 2002,168:2467–2471.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Roberts RO, Lieber MM, Rhodes T, et al.: Prevalence of a physician-assigned diagnosis of prostatitis: The Olmsted County study of urinary symptoms and health status among men.Urology. 1998,51:578–584.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. McNaughton Collins M, Pontari MA, O’Leary MP, et al.: Quality of life is impaired in men with chronic prostatitis.Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2001,16:656–662.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Brunner H, Weidner W, Schufer HC: Studies on the role of ureaplasma urealyticum and mycoplasmahominis in prostatitis.Journal of Infectious Disease. 1983,126:807–831.

    Google Scholar 

  9. de la Rosette JJ, Hubregtse MR, Meuleman EJ, Stolk-Engelaar MV, Debruyne FM: Diagnosis and treatment of 409 patients with prostatitis syndromes.Urology. 1993,41:301–307.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Krieger JN, Nyberg L, Nickel JC: NIH consensus definition and classification of prostatitis (letter to the editor).Journal of the American Medical Association. 1999,282:236–239.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Orland SM, Hanno PM, Wein AJ: Prostatitis, prostatosis, prostatodynia.Urology. 1985,25:439–459.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Nickel JC, Nigro M, Valiquette L, et al.: Diagnosis and treatment of prostatitis in Canada.Urology. 1998,52:797–802.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Nickel JC, Downey J, Johnston B, Clark J, Canadian Prostatitis Research Group: Predictors of patient response to antibiotic therapy for the chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome: A prospective multicenter clinical trial.Journal of Urology. 2001,165:1539–1544.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Nickel JC: Prostatitis: Myths and realities.Urology. 1998,51:362–366.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Mendlewicz J, Shulman C, de Schutter B, Wilmotte J: Chronic prostatitis: Psychosomatic incidence.Psychosomatic Medicine. 1971,19:118–125.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Meares E: Prostatitis syndromes: New perspectives about old woes.Journal of Urology. 1980,123:141–147.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Miller HC: Stress prostatitis.Urology. 1988,32:507–510.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Moul JW: Prostatitis: Sorting out the different causes.Postgraduate Medicine. 1993,94:191–194.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. de la Rosette JJ, Hubregtse MR, Karthaus HF, Debruyne FM:Results of a questionnaire among Dutch urologists and general practitioners concerning diagnostics and treatment of patients with prostatitis syndromes.EuropeanUrology. 1992,22:14–18.

    Google Scholar 

  20. McNaughton Collins M, Meigs JB, Barry MJ, et al.: Prevalence and correlates of prostatitis in the health professionals follow-up study cohort.Journal of Urology. 2002,167:1363–1366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Gatenbeck L, Aronsson A, Dahlgren S, Johansson B, Stromberg L: Stress stimuli-induced histopathological changes in the prostate: An experimental study in the rat.Prostate. 1987,11:69–75.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Aronsson A, Dahlgren S, Gatenbeck L, Stromberg L: Predictive sites of inflammatory manifestation in the prostatic gland: An experimental study on nonbacterial prostatitis in the rat.Prostate. 1988,13:17–26.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Gatenbeck L, Johansson B, Stromberg L, Svensson M: Genital blood flow in male rats subjected to stress stimuli.Urological Research. 1987,15:297–301.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Osborne DE, George NJ, Rao PN, et al.: Prostatodynia—Physiological characteristics and rational management with muscle relaxants.British Journal of Urology. 1981,53:621–630.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Drabick JJ, Gambel JM: Prostatodynia in United Nations peacekeeping forces in Haiti.Military Medicine. 1997,162:380–383.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Turner JA, Hauge S, Von Korff M, et al.: Primary care and urology patients with the male pelvic pain syndrome: Symptoms and quality of life.The Journal of Urology. 2002,167:1768–1773.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Chrousos GP, Gold PW: The concepts of stress and stress system disorders.Journal of the American Medical Association. 1992,267:1244–1252.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Von Korff M, Ormel J, Keefe FJ, Dworkin SF: Grading the severity of chronic pain.Pain. 1992,50:133–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Von Korff M: Epidemiological and survey methods: assessment of chronic pain. In Melzack R (ed),Handbook of Pain Assessment (2nd Ed). New York: Guilford, 2001, 603–618.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Underwood MR, Barnett AG, Vickers MR: Evaluation of two time-specific back pain outcome measures.Spine. 1999,24:1104–1112.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Cohen S, Kamarck T, Mermelstein R: A global measure of perceived stress.Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 1983,24:385–391.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Cohen S,Williamson GM: Perceived stress in a probability sample of the United States. In Spacapan S, Oskamp S (eds),The Social Psychology of Health. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1988.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Ware JE, Snow KK, Kosinski M, Gandek B:SF-36® Health Survey: Manual and Interpretation Guide. Lincoln, Rhode Island: QualityMetric Inc., 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Hosmer DW, Lemeshow S: Applied Logistic Regression. New York: Wiley, 1989.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Lampe A, Soelder E, Ennemoser A, et al.: Chronic pelvic pain and previous sexual abuse.Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2000,96:929–933.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Rothrock NE, Lutgendorf SK, Kreder KJ, Ratliff TL, Zimmerman B: Stress and symptoms in patients with interstitial cystitis: A life stress model.Urology. 2000,57:422–427.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Lutgendorf SK, Kreder KJ, Rothrock NE, Ratliff TL, Zimmerman B: Stress and symptomatology in patients with interstitial cystitis: A laboratory stress model.Journal of Urology. 2000,164:1265–1269.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Craufurd DI, Creed F, Jayson MI: Life events and psychological disturbance in patients with low back pain.Spine. 1990,15:490–494.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Lampe A, Doering S, Rumpold G, et al.: Chronic pain syndromes and their relation to childhood abuse and stressful life events.Journal of Psychosomatic Research. 2003,54:361–367.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Martine PR, Soon K: The relationship between perceived stress, social support and chronic headaches.Headache. 1993,33:307–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Fernandez E, Sheffield BA: Relative contributions of life events versus daily hassles to the frequency and intensity of headaches.Headache. 1996,36:595–602.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Holm JE, Lokken C, Myers TC: Migraine and stress: A daily examination of temporal relationships in women migraineurs.Headache. 1997,37:553–558.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. Isenberg ER, Moldwin RM: Etiology: Where does prostatitis stop and interstitial cystitis begin?World Journal of Urology. 2003,21:64–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Straub LR, Ripley HS,Wolf S: Disturbance of bladder function associated with emotional states.Journal of the American Medical Association. 1949,141:1139–1143.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Trombini G, Rossi N, Umilta C, Baccarani CP: Experimental stress and cystomanometric recordings of patients with primary enuresis, a preliminary report.Perceptual and Motor Skills. 1982,54:771–777.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  46. Segura JW, Opitz JL, Greene LF: Prostatosis, prostatitis, or pelvic floor myalgia?Journal of Urology. 1979,122:168–169.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Zermann D, Ishigooka M, Doggweiler R, Schmidt RA: Neurourological insights into the etiology of genitourinary pain in men.Journal of Urology. 1999,161:903–908.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  48. Hetrick DC, Ciol MA, Rothman I, et al.: Musculoskeletal dysfunction in men with chronic pelvic pain syndrome type III: A case-control study.Journal of Urology. 2003,170:828–831.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  49. McEwan BS: Plasticity of the hippocampus: Adaptations to chronic stress and allostatic load.Annals of the New York Academy of Science. 2001,933:265–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Blackburn-Munro G, Blackburn-Munro RE: Chronic pain, chronic stress and depression: Coincidence or consequence?Journal of Neuroendocrinology. 2001,31:1009–1023.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Chaouloff F: Serotonin, stress and corticoids.Journal of Psychopharmacology. 2000,14:139–151.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  52. Mason P: Central mechanisms of pain modulation.Current Opinions in Neurobiology. 1999,9:436–441.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. Jang TL, Schaeffer, AJ: The role of cytokines in prostatitis.World Journal of Urology. 2003,21:95–99.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  54. Batstone, GR, Doble A, Batstone D: Chronic prostatitis.Current Opinions in Urology. 2003,13:23–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Affleck G, Tennen H, Urrows S, Higgins P: Person and contextual features of daily stress reactivity: Individual differences in relations of undesirable daily events with mood disturbance and chronic pain intensity.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1994,66:329–340.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  56. Zautra AJ, Burleson MH, Matt KS, Roth S, Burrows LD: Interpersonal stress, depression, hormones, and disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis patients.Health Psychology. 1994,13:139–148.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  57. Potter PT, Zautra AJ: Stressful life events’ effects on rheumatoid arthritis disease activity.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. 1997,65:319–323.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  58. Sullivan MJ, Thorn B, Haythornthwaite JA, et al.: Theoretical perspectives on the relation between catastrophizing and pain.Clinical Journal of Pain. 2001,17:52–64.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  59. Watson D, Pennebaker JW: Health complaints, stress, and distress: Exploring the central role of negative affectivity.Psychological Review. 1989,96:234–242.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  60. Badia X, Rodriguez F, Carballido J, et al.: Influence of sociodemographic and health status variables on the American Urological Association symptom scores in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms.Urology. 2001,57:71–77.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  61. Ullrich PM, Carson MR, Lutgendorf SL,Williams RD: Cancer fear and mood disturbance after radical prostatectomy: Consequences of biochemical evidence of recurrence.Journal of Urology. 2003,169:1449–1452.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, 325 Ninth Avenue, Box 359740, 98104-2499, Seattle, WA

    Philip M. Ullrich Ph.D.

  2. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, USA

    Judith A. Turner Ph.D.

  3. Department of Urology, University of Washington School of Medicine, USA

    Marcia Ciol Ph.D. & Richard Berger M.D.

Authors
  1. Philip M. Ullrich Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Judith A. Turner Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Marcia Ciol Ph.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Richard Berger M.D.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip M. Ullrich Ph.D..

Additional information

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Stephanie Hauge in the coordination of this article. This research was supported by the Paul G. Allen Foundation for Medical Research.

About this article

Cite this article

Ullrich, P.M., Turner, J.A., Ciol, M. et al. Stress is associated with subsequent pain and disability among men with nonbacterial prostatitis/pelvic pain. ann. behav. med. 30, 112–118 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324796abm3002_3

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324796abm3002_3

Keywords

Search

Navigation