Assessment of Tamsulosin 0.2 mg for Symptomatic Bladder Outlet Obstruction Secondary to Benign Prostatic Enlargement: Data from a Korean Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study

Aims: To estimate efficacy and treatment satisfaction with tamsulosin 0.2 mg in patients with symptomatic bladder outlet obstruction secondary to benign prostatic enlargement and lower urinary tract symptoms in relation to personal satisfaction. Methods: The study was conducted in 1,260 subjects who were asked to fill in detailed questionnaires designed to evaluate their satisfaction with the treatment and symptom improvement 8 weeks after receiving tamsulosin 0.2 mg. Results: After being treated with tamsulosin 0.2 mg for 8 weeks, the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) score improved significantly. Among the 1,260 patients, 813 (64.52%) were satisfied, while 447 (35.48%) were dissatisfied with tamsulosin 0.2 mg. The reasons for patient dissatisfaction were efficacy problems (79.87%) and side effects (4.25%). Treatment satisfaction was affected by age, underlying medical disease and baseline IPSS severity (p = 0.020, 0.0427 and <0.001, respectively), but only age and baseline IPSS were risk factors for dissatisfaction. Conclusions: Tamsulosin 0.2 mg was effective in symptomatic improvement, but a relatively high proportion of patients were dissatisfied with the treatment. Efficacy problems were selected by patients as the main reason for dissatisfaction. It is also significant to note that the degree of satisfaction was related to age and baseline IPSS severity.