The International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) is an eight-question written screening tool used to screen for, rapidly diagnose, track the symptoms of, and suggest management of the

lower urinary tract symptoms Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) refer to a group of clinical symptoms involving the bladder, urinary sphincter, urethra and, in men, the prostate. The term is more commonly applied to men—over 40% of older men are afected—but lower urina ...

benign prostatic hyperplasia Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), also called prostate enlargement, is a noncancerous increase in size of the prostate gland. Symptoms may include frequent urination, trouble starting to urinate, weak stream, inability to urinate, or loss o ...

(BPH). It contains seven questions related to symptoms related to BPH and one question related to the patient's perceived

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

. Created in 1992 by the

American Urological Association The American Urological Association (AUA) is a professional association in the United States for urology professionals. It has its headquarters at the William P. Didusch Center for Urologic History in Maryland. AUA works with many international o ...

, it originally lacked the eighth quality of life question, hence its original name: the American Urological Association symptom score (AUA-7). World Health Organization International Consultation on BPH adopted the "eight question" index and labeled it the IPSS. The seven questions relating to symptoms experienced in the last month include feeling of incomplete bladder emptying, frequency of urination, intermittency of urine stream, urgency of urination, weak stream, straining and waking at night to urinate. The IPSS was designed to be self-administered by the patient, with speed and ease in mind. Hence, it can be used in both urology clinics as well as the clinics of primary care physicians (i.e. by general practitioners) for the screening and diagnosis of BPH. Additionally, the IPSS can be performed multiple times to compare the progression of symptoms and their severity over months and years. In addition to diagnosis and charting disease progression, the IPSS is effective in helping to determine treatment for patients.

Scoring

The symptoms must have been experienced in the last month and each answer is scored from 0 to 5 for a maximum score of 35 points. The first six questions are scored based on the following: The seventh question, relating to nocturia, is scored from 0 to 5 based on how many times the patient gets up at night to urinate (viz. 1 is scored for one time per night and 5 for five times per night).International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS)
at Urological Sciences Research Foundation. Retrieved November 2011 The eighth, and final question (not included in the main IPSS score), relating to the patient's perceived

, is assigned a score of 0 (delighted) to 6 (terrible).

Mnemonic

The

mnemonic A mnemonic ( ) device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval (remembering) in the human memory for better understanding. Mnemonics make use of elaborative encoding, retrieval cues, and imag ...

"FUN WISE" can be used to remember the seven questions relating to symptoms of BPH. They are as follows:

Standardisation

In research, the IPSS is used to standardise patients' complaints and symptoms. However, a meta-analysis on the subject of the influence of position (whether standing or sitting) on

urodynamics Urodynamic testing or urodynamics is a study that assesses how the bladder and urethra are performing their job of storing and releasing urine. Urodynamic tests can help explain symptoms such as: * incontinence * frequent urination * sudden, str ...

(that is, on tests of how completely the bladder, sphincter and urethra store and release urine) noted that, in most cases, physicians either did not use the IPSS, or did not use it adequately.

External links

*http://www.urospec.com/uro/Forms/ipss.pdf International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) form

References

{{reflist Andrology Urology