Ref (type)	Population	Outcome, Interventions	Results and statistical analysis	Effect size	Favours
Symptom improvement
RCT	20 people with chronic abacterial prostatitis In review	Maximal flow time (change from baseline) from 15.4 mL/second to 20.3 mL/second with alfuzosin 2.5 mg three times daily from 13.9 mL/second to 15.6 mL/second with placebo	P = 0.01	Effect size not calculated	alfuzosin
RCT	30 people with chronic abacterial prostatitis In review	Proportion of people with no or reduced pain after prostatic massage 6 weeks 6/12 (50%) with phenoxybenzamine 10 mg twice daily 2/17 (12%) with placebo	P <0.05	Effect size not calculated	phenoxybenzamine
RCT 3-armed trial	70 men with chronic abacterial prostatitis In review	Change in total National Institutes of Health-Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index [NIH-CPSI] score from baseline 6 months –9.9 with alfuzosin 5 mg twice daily for 6 months –3.8 with placebo	Significance not assessed
RCT 3-armed trial	70 men with chronic abacterial prostatitis In review	Change in NIH-CPSI pain score from baseline 6 months –5.1 with alfuzosin 5 mg twice daily for 6 months –1.1 with placebo	Significance not assessed
RCT 3-armed trial	70 men with chronic abacterial prostatitis In review	Change in total NIH-CPSI score from baseline 12 months –3.5 with alfuzosin 5 mg twice daily for 6 months –0.1 with placebo	Significance not assessed
RCT	86 men with chronic abacterial prostatitis In review	Reduction in NIH-CPSI pain score >50% (from baseline) 14 weeks 26/43 (60%) with terazosin with dose escalation from 1–5 mg daily (for 14 weeks) 16/43 (37%) with placebo	P = 0.03	Effect size not calculated	terazosin
RCT	86 men with chronic abacterial prostatitis In review	Change in peak urinary flow rate 14 weeks from 15.4 mL/second to 18.7 mL/second with terazosin with dose escalation from 1–5 mg daily (for 14 weeks) from 18.1 mL/second to 19.7 mL/second with placebo	Reported as not significant P value not reported		Not significant
RCT	86 men with chronic abacterial prostatitis In review	Change in postvoid residual volume 14 weeks from 24.8 mL to 17.1 mL with terazosin with dose escalation from 1–5 mg daily (for 14 weeks) from 20.6 mL to 16.0 mL with placebo	Reported as not significant P value not reported		Not significant
RCT	58 men aged under 55 years with chronic abacterial prostatitis In review	Change in NIH-CPSI scores from baseline 45 days with tamsulosin with placebo Absolute results not reported	Difference between groups –3.6 95% CI –7.0 to –0.3 P = 0.04	Effect size not calculated	tamsulosin
RCT 4-armed trial	196 men with chronic abacterial prostatitis	NIH-CPSI scores (a negative change indicates improvement) after 6 weeks of treatment –4.3 with tamsulosin –4.7 with no tamsulosin	P >0.2 Longitudinal regression analysis		Not significant
RCT	60 men with chronic abacterial prostatitis	Change in mean International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) measured on a scale of 0 to 35 (change from baseline) 3 months after cessation of treatment from 9.8 to 5.9 with doxazosin from 9.3 to 8.8 with placebo	P = 0.001	Effect size not calculated	doxazosin
Pseudo-randomised trial 3-armed trial	90 men with chronic abacterial prostatitis	Mean NIH-CPSI score (change in score from baseline) 6 months from 23.1 to 10.7 with doxazosin 4 mg daily from 22.9 to 21.9 with placebo	P <0.001	Effect size not calculated	doxazosin
Pseudo-randomised trial 3-armed trial	90 men with chronic abacterial prostatitis	Mean NIH-CPSI score (change in score from baseline) 12 months from 23.1 to 12.5 with doxazosin 4 mg daily from 22.9 to 22.2 with placebo	P <0.001	Effect size not calculated	doxazosin
RCT	272 men with prostatitis for at least 2 years, and with no previous treatment with an alpha-blocker	Reduction of total NIH-CPSI score by at least 4 points 12 weeks 68/134 (49%) with alfuzosin 66/134 (49%) with placebo	P = 0.99		Not significant
RCT	272 men with prostatitis for at least 2 years, and with no previous treatment with an alpha-blocker	Proportion of people with marked or moderate global response assessed on a scale from 0 to 7 12 weeks 48/138 (35%) with alfuzosin 45/134 (34%) with placebo	P = 0.90		Not significant
RCT	272 men with prostatitis for at least 2 years, and with no previous treatment with an alpha-blocker	Mean change in total McGill Pain Questionnaire score (range 0–45 points, higher scores indicate more pain) 12 weeks –3.4 with alfuzosin 10 mg –3.1 with placebo	P = 0.45		Not significant