Dr Gregory Tarr. Interventional Radiology

Symptom score

Prostate symptom score (IPSS)

The International Prostate Symptom Score, or IPSS, is the questionnaire urologists and interventional radiologists most often use to measure urinary symptoms caused by an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia). It takes about two minutes.

Anonymous calculator — nothing is saved
0 of 9 answered About 2 minutes

About this entry

This only changes which questions you are asked. It does not change your score.

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Your urinary symptoms

1Over the past 4 weeks, how often have you had a sensation of not emptying your bladder completely after you finished urinating?
2Over the past 4 weeks, how often have you had to urinate again less than two hours after you finished urinating?
3Over the past 4 weeks, how often have you found you stopped and started again several times when you urinated?
4Over the past 4 weeks, how often have you found it difficult to postpone urination?
5Over the past 4 weeks, how often have you had a weak urinary stream?
6Over the past 4 weeks, how often have you had to push or strain to begin urinating?
7Over the past 4 weeks, how many times did you typically get up to urinate between bedtime and getting up in the morning?

Quality of life due to urinary symptoms

This question is reported separately. It is not added to your total score.

8If you were to spend the rest of your life with your urinary condition just the way it is now, how would you feel about that?

Catheter

A small number of men are unable to pass urine without a catheter. If that applies to you, please tell us here.

9Do you currently have a urinary catheter in place?
Are you now catheter-free?
Have you had a successful trial of void?

A trial of void is when the catheter is removed to see whether you can pass urine normally.

I-PSS-1 (standard) — Australia/English — version of 31 Oct 2017 — Mapi. Used under licence. Reference: Barry MJ, Fowler FJ Jr, O'Leary MP, Bruskewitz RC, Holtgrewe HL, Mebust WK, Cockett AT. The American Urological Association symptom index for benign prostatic hyperplasia. J Urol 1992;148(5):1549–1557. I-PSS contact information and permission to use: Mapi Research Trust, Lyon, France, https://eprovide.mapi-trust.org

If this is urgent, do not use this page

If you cannot pass urine at all, or you have fever with burning on urination, visible blood clots in your urine or severe lower abdominal pain, this is urgent. Go to your nearest emergency department or call 000 — do not wait for this questionnaire.

This page provides no emergency or urgent clinical assessment, and nobody monitors it outside consulting hours.

What this score measures — and what it does not

This questionnaire does not diagnose anything

It measures how severe and how troublesome your symptoms are right now. It cannot tell you what is causing them, it cannot tell you whether you have an enlarged prostate, and it cannot decide whether embolisation or any other treatment is right for you. Only a consultation, an examination and the appropriate tests can do that.

What this score measures

Seven questions about your urinary symptoms over the past 4 weeks, each scored 0 to 5, giving a total between 0 and 35.

One further question about how you feel about your urinary symptoms. This is scored 0 to 6 and is reported separately as a quality-of-life score — it is not added to the total.

Privacy — how your answers are handled

Privacy

Anonymous calculator. This page works out your score inside your own web browser. Your answers are not sent to Tarr Radiology, and they are not stored on any server, unless you choose to fill in the “Get in touch” section and press send. We do not ask for your date of birth, address, Medicare number or referring doctor here.

Unfinished answers may be kept temporarily in your own browser on this device so you can come back to them. Use “Start again” to clear them.

We measure anonymous usage of this page — how many people start and finish the questionnaire, and how long it takes. Your answers and your score are never included in that measurement and are never sent to analytics or advertising services.

If you send us your score, your name, contact details, answers and score are handled as health information under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles, and are kept in our clinical records. Read our privacy policy and collection notice.

Common questions

What is a normal IPSS score?

A total of 0 to 7 is generally described as mild, 8 to 19 as moderate and 20 to 35 as severe. There is no single “normal” figure — the score describes how troublesome your symptoms are, not whether you have a disease.

Does a high IPSS mean I need surgery?

No. The IPSS measures symptom severity only. Two men with the same score can need completely different treatment, because the score cannot tell whether symptoms come from the prostate, the bladder, medication or another cause. That is what an assessment is for.

Can prostate artery embolisation help my symptoms?

Prostate artery embolisation reduces the blood supply to the prostate so that it shrinks over the following months. In suitable men it may reduce urinary symptoms and may delay or avoid the need for prostate surgery. Whether it is appropriate for you depends on your assessment, your prostate anatomy and your preferences.

Is my IPSS score stored when I use this calculator?

No. The public calculator on this page works entirely in your web browser. Your answers are not sent to us or to anyone else unless you choose to fill in the “Get in touch” section and press send.

How often should I repeat the score?

If you are considering treatment it is useful to have a baseline score. After prostate artery embolisation we usually repeat it at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, then yearly, so that change over time can be measured rather than guessed.

Read more

Medically reviewed by Dr Gregory Tarr, MB ChB, PhD, FRANZCR, EBIR
Reviewed 25 July 2026 · next review due July 2027 · instrument: International Prostate Symptom Score (I-PSS)

Questionnaire wording, scoring and interpretation clinically approved by Dr Gregory Tarr on 25 July 2026.

This page is general information for Australian patients and their doctors. It is not a substitute for individual medical advice.