Is Self-Report of Erectile Dysfunction Associated with Severity, Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors, and Depression?

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether cardiovascular disease risk factors and depression are associated with the frequency of self-report in patients with erectile dysfunction (ED). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Randomly selected men more then 40 years of age who visited the department of urology between January 2005 and July 2008 were evaluated by clinical examination and questionnaires. Trained doctors assessed the participants by using structured questionnaires that included medical history as well as report of ED. All participants were evaluated for cardiovascular disease risk factors. The group with unreported ED was defined as men with an International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5) score of < or =21 who did not self-report ED. The group with self-reported ED was defined as men as above who self-reported ED. Symptoms of depression were assessed by the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). RESULTS: The mean age of a total of 459 enrolled patients was 53.4+/-7.8 years. The overall frequency of ED was 39.8%. Of the total study group, 25.9% were categorized in the unreported ED group and 13.9% in the self-reported ED group. The men with self-reported ED had significantly severe forms of ED and a higher frequency of cardiovascular disease risk factors than did the men with unreported ED. Moreover, the self-reported ED group had a significantly higher frequency of symptoms of depression. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that men with self-reported ED had a higher frequency of cardiovascular disease risk factors and symptoms associated with depression than did men with unreported ED. Furthermore, men with self-reported ED had more severe ED than did men with unreported ED.