Oral Presentations: Abstracts of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting, Melbourne, Australia

This paper is a collection of abstracts from the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting 2022. One section is about finasteride, which is commonly prescribed for benign prostatic hyperplasia and androgenetic alopecia, but recent case reports have linked it to suicidal ideation (SI). As a result, in 2022 regulators in the US and France mandated label changes to warn about potential SI and behavior changes. Current evidence about finasteride's psychiatric effects comes mainly from dermatology research, and causation remains unproven due to a lack of comprehensive studies. However, men with male pattern baldness already suffer higher rates of depression and poor self-image. Therefore, urologists prescribing finasteride should screen patients for mental health issues, provide support resources, monitor for new SI symptoms, and adjust dosing or discontinue use if concerning psychiatric changes occur. Further research is critically needed to definitively establish if finasteride causes SI.