The X-Y factor: Females and males with urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome present distinct clinical phenotypesWe identified 2007 subjects (1523 males, 484 females) with UCPPS. Females had increased prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome (25% vs. 11.2%), chronic fatigue syndrome (13.6% vs. 1.6%), fibromyalgia (16.9% vs. 1.6%), drug allergies (56.6% vs. 13.5%), diabetes (20.2% vs. 3.9%), depression (31% vs. 18.4%), and alcohol use (44.2% vs. 10.8%) compared to males with UCPPS (all p<0.001). In respect to UPOINT domains, females had a higher "total" (3.2 vs. 2.4), "urinary" (92.8% vs. 67.6%), "organ-specific" (90.1% vs. 51.4%), and "neurogenic" (44.7% vs. 30%) prevalence compared to males (all p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS: Females with UCPPS have greater prevalence of systemic disorders/symptoms and worse urinary symptoms than males with UCPPS. These findings demonstrate that females and males with UCPPS have distinct and different clinical phenotypes.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29485033