NIH-IV prostatitis and serum prostate specific antigen levels, and others have tried to describe the prevalence of NIH-IV prostatitis, little is known about the effects of factors such as social characteristics, lifestyle, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity and diabetes on NIH-IV prostatitis. Therefore, we analysed information from the Fangchenggang Area Male Health and Examination Survey to describe the prevalence of and risk factors for NIHIV prostatitis among a Chinese male population. In this large cross-sectional study, the overall prevalence of NIH-IV prostatitis was 21.1% among 1,868 asymptomatic men aged 19�C78 years in Fangchenggang. In previous studies, the prevalence of CP was reported to be between 2% to 10% among unselected men in North America, AbMole Mepiroxol Europe and Asia, and in a population based sample of Chinese men 571 were diagnosed with prostatitis. Because NIH-IV prostatitis cannot be determined by routine epidemiologic methods, there are only a few published studies that have reported on the prevalence of NIH-IV prostatitis. Our prevalence is similar to an earlier study of 565 young men aged 18.961.8 years, and the prevalence of NIH-IV prostatitis was 19.0% by detection of leukocytes in semen. In other studies, prevalence of asymptomatic inammatory prostatitis ranged from 11% to 42%. Due to methodological differences between studies, it is difficult to make a direct comparison between studies. Although studies of the epidemiology and determinants of prostatitis risk factors have provided clues to the general aetiology of prostatitis, information on the relationship between NIH-IV prostatitis and risk factors is lacking in the literature. Our results reveal that age is a major risk factor for NIH-IV prostatitis in Chinese men. While it has been suggested that prostatitis is a younger man’s disease, our findings are consistent with several other reports which demonstrate that prostatitis affects men of all ages. We also found that smokers were associated with NIH-IV prostatitis. Smoker who was smoked more than 15 pack-years have a higher risk of NIH-IV prostatitis. Meanwhile, drinkers ��1 drinks/week also have a higher risk of NIH-IV prostatitis. Low education levels may be another risk factor for NIH-IV prostatitis, which can be explain by the fact that persons with lower education levels commonly pay less attention to healthcare and engage in unhealthy lifestyle practices such as smoking and drinking. However, our study did not find a significant association between physical activity, being overweight, hypertension, dyslipidemia or diabetes and NIH-IV prostatitis. Our results reveal that men with asymptomatic inammatory prostatitis may make up a significant part of asymptomatic men. Chronic prostatic inammation may be involved in the development and progression of chronic prostatic disease, such as BPH and Pca, although there is still no evidence of a causal relation.