The NIH-CPSI Questionnaire: Score Your Own Pelvic Pain Symptoms

Dernière mise à jour : août 23, 2026

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Chronic pelvic pain syndrome has no blood test and no scan that confirms it. There is no number on a laboratory report that tells you whether you are getting better. That is why a questionnaire matters here more than in almost any other urological condition — the score is the measurement, and without one, both you and your doctor are relying on memory of how bad things were three months ago, which is notoriously unreliable in chronic pain.

The tool used worldwide is the NIH-CPSI — the National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index. An earlier version of this article reproduced it without the point values, which made it impossible to actually score. The scoring is included below, so you can complete it yourself and bring the result with you.

• Centre d'urologie Hôpital de Bangkok Thaïlande Réservation en ligne 02-310-3009 bhquro@bdms.co.th
• Hôpital Samitivej Sriracha Chonburi 088-022-1445

First: What This Questionnaire Is Not For

The NIH-CPSI measures symptoms. It does not diagnose, and it cannot distinguish pelvic pain from something else that needs different attention. Before it is used, a urologist establishes that this really is chronic pelvic pain syndrome. Do not score yourself and settle for that if you have any of the following — these are not CPPS and need proper assessment, some of them the same day:

• Fever or chills with the pain, or feeling generally unwell — emergency department, or 1669 in Thailand
• Complete inability to pass urine with a painfully full bladder — same, immediately
• Blood in the urine or semen
• Unexplained weight loss, or new bone or back pain
• A lump in the testicle, or sudden severe testicular pain — sudden severe testicular pain is an emergency in its own right

The NIH-CPSI Questionnaire

Answer for the last week only, not for how things have been in general. Point values are in brackets. Total them as you go.

Pain or discomfort

1. In the last week, have you experienced any pain or discomfort in the following areas?

a. Area between rectum and testicles (perineum)	Yes (1)	No (0)
b. Testicles	Yes (1)	No (0)
c. Tip of the penis (not related to urination)	Yes (1)	No (0)
d. Below your waist, in your pubic or bladder area	Yes (1)	No (0)

2. In the last week, have you experienced:

a. Pain or burning during urination?	Yes (1)	No (0)
b. Pain or discomfort during or after sexual climax (ejaculation)?	Yes (1)	No (0)

3. How often have you had pain or discomfort in any of these areas over the last week?

Jamais	0
Rarement	1
Parfois	2
Souvent	3
En général	4
Toujours	5

4. Which number describes your AVERAGE pain or discomfort on the days that you had it, over the last week? Score 0 to 10, where 0 is no pain and 10 is the worst pain imaginable.

Urgence

5. How often have you had the sensation of not emptying your bladder completely after you finished urinating, over the last week?

Pas du tout	0
Moins d'une fois sur 5	1
Less than half the time	2
About half the time	3
More than half the time	4
Presque toujours	5

6. How often have you had to urinate again less than two hours after you finished urinating, over the last week?

Pas du tout	0
Moins d'une fois sur 5	1
Less than half the time	2
About half the time	3
More than half the time	4
Presque toujours	5

Impact and quality of life

7. How much have your symptoms kept you from doing the kind of things you would usually do, over the last week?

Aucun	0
Un peu seulement	1
Certains	2
Un lot	3

8. How much did you think about your symptoms, over the last week?

Aucun	0
Un peu seulement	1
Certains	2
Un lot	3

9. If you were to spend the rest of your life with symptoms just the way they have been during the last week, how would you feel about that?

Enchanté	0
Satisfait	1
Très satisfait	2
Mixte	3
Plutôt insatisfait	4
Malheureux	5
Terrible	6

Working Out Your Score

Domain	Add up	Range
Douleur	Questions 1a–1d, 2a–2b, 3 and 4	0–21
Symptômes urinaires	Questions 5 and 6	0–10
Qualité de vie	Questions 7, 8 and 9	0–12
Total	All of the above	0–43

An earlier version of this page stated the quality of life range as 0–9 and the total as 0–41. Those figures were wrong and have been corrected: the quality of life domain runs to 12 and the total to 43.

What the total means, broadly: under 15 is generally regarded as mild, 15 to 29 as moderate, and 30 or above as severe. Treat those as rough bands rather than as thresholds that decide anything by themselves.

The more useful number is the change. A fall of about six points in the total is generally taken as a genuinely meaningful improvement rather than noise. This is why it is worth completing the questionnaire before treatment starts and repeating it at each review: in a condition that fluctuates and improves slowly, a six-point drop over three months is real progress that you might otherwise not notice at all.

Which Domain Is Highest Also Matters

The total is not the only useful output. Two men with the same total can need quite different treatment, and the shape of the score points the way: a high urinary domain suggests one approach, a dominant pain domain another, and a quality of life score that is disproportionately high relative to the pain — a man scoring modest pain but answering “terrible” to question 9 — tells you something important about how much this is costing him, and that support addressing that side of it belongs in the plan.

That is the logic behind modern treatment of this condition, which is aimed at the drivers each man actually has rather than at everyone in the same way. I have set out what that involves — and why repeated antibiotics are usually the wrong answer — in chronic prostatitis: why antibiotics usually are not the answer.

Foire aux questions (FAQ)

What is chronic pelvic pain syndrome in men?

Persistent pain in the perineum, genitals or pelvis lasting more than three months, without evidence of bacterial infection, often with urinary symptoms and pain on ejaculation. It is by far the commonest form of prostatitis — roughly nine in ten cases — and it is managed over time rather than cured with a single treatment.

How is the NIH-CPSI scored?

Three domains: pain from questions 1 to 4, scored 0 to 21; urinary symptoms from questions 5 and 6, scored 0 to 10; and quality of life from questions 7 to 9, scored 0 to 12. The total runs from 0 to 43. Broadly, under 15 is mild, 15 to 29 moderate and 30 or above severe, though the bands are approximate.

How much improvement in the score counts as real?

A fall of around six points in the total is generally regarded as a meaningful improvement rather than random variation. That is why the questionnaire is completed before treatment and repeated at reviews: in a fluctuating condition that improves gradually, real progress is easy to miss without a number to compare against.

Can I diagnose myself with this questionnaire?

No. It measures symptom severity, not cause. A high score tells you how much you are suffering, not why. Fever, blood in the urine or semen, inability to pass urine, unexplained weight loss, new bone pain or a testicular lump are not chronic pelvic pain syndrome and need assessment in their own right. Score it, then bring it with you.

Il existe un traitement pour le syndrome de douleur pelvienne chronique ?

There is no single treatment that works for everyone, and improvement is usually gradual and partial rather than sudden and complete. But most men improve substantially with a combination aimed at their particular pattern — pelvic floor physiotherapy, alpha blockers, medication acting on nerve pain, and psychological support, in the combination that fits. Progress is tracked by the score rather than by a laboratory test, because there is no laboratory test to track.

Book an Appointment

Dr. Soarawee Weerasopone assesses and treats chronic pelvic pain at Hôpital de Bangkok Siège social and at Samitivej Sriracha Hospital, Chonburi — Urology department 088-022-1445. Completing this questionnaire before your appointment is genuinely useful — bring the score, along with any previous culture results and a list of antibiotics you have already taken. Questions about cost are answered by the hospital rather than by Dr. Soarawee — for Bangkok Hospital, by email to bhquro@bdms.co.th.

La télémédecine de Bangkok Hospital est disponible pour les patients qui ne peuvent pas se déplacer en personne, y compris les patients internationaux — organisez-la à l'avance par e-mail auprès du service d'urologie à bhquro@bdms.co.th. Reviewing scores over time suits telemedicine well; the initial examination does not. Samitivej Sriracha is in-person only.

Avis de non-responsabilité : This article is written and reviewed by Dr. Soarawee Weerasopone, a board-certified urologist at Bangkok Hospital Headquarters. It is educational only, is not medical advice, and does not create a doctor–patient relationship. The NIH-CPSI measures symptom severity and does not establish a diagnosis or exclude other conditions. No diagnosis, prescription or individual medical advice is given through personal messaging channels or social media, and Dr. Soarawee operates no public social media account — any account offering private consultation in his name is fraudulent. Fever with pelvic pain, inability to pass urine, or sudden severe testicular pain means an emergency department, or 1669 in Thailand.