The International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) was developed because the process of determining the severity of enlarged prostate conditions had been mostly subjective and non-standardized up until recently. As such, the international medical community decided it was necessary to come together and develop a common tool that physicians around the world could use to consistently and quantifably measure their patients’ BPH symptoms. The outcome of their efforts was the creation of the International Prostate Symptom Score which has now become the foundation of many physicians’ prostatic diagnostic procedures.
(Download a printable .pdf copy of the IPSS score sheet here.)
This scoring tool contains the following questions, each to which the respondee assigns a numeric value (Zero = Not at all, 1 = Less than 5 times, 2 = Less than half the time, 3 = About half the time, 4 = More than half the time, and 5 = Almost always) -
Over the past month…
- how often have you had a sensation of not emptying your bladder completely after you finish urinating?
- how often have you had to urinate again less than 2 hours after urinating?
- how often did you find yourself stopping and starting again several times when you urinate?
- how often have you found it difficult to postpone urination?
- how often have you had a weak urinary stream?
- how often have you had to push or strain to begin urination?
- how many times did you typically get up to urinate from when you went to bed at night until you got up in the morning?
The higher your International Prostate Symptom Score is, the more severe your enlarged prostate condition is. Depending upon the severity of the condition, your physician may suggest several of these BPH treatment alternatives to you.
