Correlates for erectile and ejaculatory dysfunction in older Dutch men: a community-based study.

Objectives: We estimated correlates for erectile dysfunction (ED) (defined as a report of erections of severely reduced rigidity or no erections) and ejaculatory dysfunction (EjD) (defined as a report of ejaculations with significantly reduced volume or no ejaculations) in a large community sample of older men.

Design: A community-based study.

Setting: Krimpen aan den IJssel, a municipality near Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Participants: A total of 1,688 (50% of the eligible) men age 50 to 78.

Measurements: Presence of ED and EjD (International Continence Society sex questionnaire), urinary tract symptoms (international prostate symptom score), prostate enlargement (transrectal ultrasonography), urinary flow obstruction (uroflowmetry), obesity (body mass index), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular problems. Determined marital status, educational level, and smoking and drinking habits. Population attributable risk (PAR) was estimated for correlates that yielded from multiple logistic regression models on ED and EjD.

Results: Multiple logistic regression analyses yielded the following correlates for significant ED: age, smoking, obesity, urinary tract symptoms, and treatment for cardiovascular problems and COPD. Age, erectile function, urinary symptoms, and previous prostate operations proved to be correlates for significant EjD. Urinary symptoms and obesity have the highest PAR for ED, whereas decreased erectile function has the highest PAR for EjD.

Conclusions: Age, obesity, and urinary tract symptoms are the most-important correlates of significant ED in the population. Cardiac problems, COPD, and smoking are other independent correlates. Significant EjD is largely related to age, decreased erectile function, and previous prostate surgery.