The prevalence and incidence of interstitial cystitis is significantly higher for women and men than previously published estimates. Men account for a higher proportion of patients with IC than has previously been recognized.

The prevalence of IC symptoms is 30 to 50-fold higher in women and 60 to 100-fold higher in men than the prevalence of a coded physician diagnosis of IC in the same population. Although these findings are not conclusive, they imply that IC may be significantly under diagnosed.

This population based study indicates that approximately 1 in 9 men have prostatitis-like symptoms. Application of 2 different definitions for prostatitis-like symptoms identified unique groups of men, with limited overlap in the groups.