One of the promising new approaches to chronic prostatitis and chronic pelvic pain syndrome was published last month by Dr. J. Curtis Nickel and Dr. Daniel Shoskes.

Phenotypic approach to the management of the chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome. BJU Int. 2010 Nov;106(9):1252-63. Nickel JC, Shoskes DA.

Abstract
• Our traditional approach to managing the chronic prostatitis (CP) syndromes has not been very successful for many of our patients. • Our developing understanding of CP/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) as a heterogeneous syndrome rather than a homogenous disease has allowed us to develop treatment strategies based on individual patient characteristics. • By considering each patient as a unique individual and tailoring treatments to a specific patient's clinical 'phenotype' we improve our therapeutic outcomes.

What the authors are doing is categorizing patients based on their phenotype.
Phenotype, according to Dorland's Medical Dictionary, means the observable morphological, biochemical, and physiological characteristics of an individual, either in whole or with respect to a single or a few traits, as determined by a combination of the genotype and the environment.

As part of this treatment program they attempt to categorize patients based on the following broad categories:
Urinary
Psychosocial
Organ-Specific
Infection
Neurologic/Systemic
Tenderness