Incidence of surgically treated benign prostatic hypertrophy and of prostate cancer among blacks and whites in a prepaid health care plan.

The incidence of surgically treated benign prostatic hypertrophy and of prostate cancer was examined to December 1987 in 14,897 men (2,175 blacks and 12,722 whites) who received multiphasic health checkups during 1971-1972 while members of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program (San Francisco-Oakland, California). Prostate cancer incidence was higher in blacks than in whites for all age groups (age-adjusted relative risk (RR) = 1.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.4-2.3). The incidence of benign prostatic hypertrophy was somewhat higher in blacks than in whites until age 65 years, after which it was higher in whites. In contrast to the risk of prostate cancer, the age-adjusted risk of benign prostatic hypertrophy was the same for blacks as for whites (RR = 1.0, 95% Cl 0.8-1.2).