The Journal of urology
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The Journal of urology · Oct 1998
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialThe impact of medical therapy on bother due to symptoms, quality of life and global outcome, and factors predicting response. Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia Study Group.
We determine the effect of placebo, finasteride, terazosin and a combination of drugs on bother due to symptoms, quality of life and patient perception of improvement, and identify baseline clinical factors that predict clinical response to medical therapy. ⋯ In men with clinical BPH finasteride and placebo are equally effective, while terazosin and combination are significantly more effective. In men with clinical BPH and large prostates the advantage of finasteride over placebo in terms of symptom reduction, impact on bother due to symptoms and quality of life is small at best, while the advantage of terazosin and combination over finasteride and placebo is highly significant. Baseline prostate volume was not a predictor of response to finasteride in the overall study population. On the basis of our results alpha1 blockers, such as terazosin, should be first line medical treatment for BPH.