[Effects of finasteride on hematuria associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia: a meta-analysis].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the effects of finasteride on hematuria associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). METHODS: We electronically searched MEDLINE (December 1966-April 2009), EMBASE (December 1974-April 2009), The Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2009), CNKI (December 1994-April 2009), VIP (December 1989-April 2009) and CBM (December 1978-April 2009) , and handsearched several relevant journals as well. Randomized controlled trials were assessed with the methods recommended by the Cochrane Collaboration. The data were screened and systematically analyzed by at least two reviewers independently using the RevMan 5.0 software. RESULTS: Compared with the placebo control group, the finasteride group showed a significantly decreased incidence of hematuria during the 12 months follow-up period (OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.06-0.21, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Finasteride has desirable therapeutic and preventive effects on BPH-associated hematuria. More well-designed multicentered randomized controlled trials of large sample size are invited to provide further evidence for this conclusion.