Real-world observational results from a database of 48 million men in the United States: Relationship of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and depression with age and erectile dysfunction.

Aims: To evaluate the relationship of comorbidities (cardiovascular disease [CVD], diabetes mellitus [DM] and depression) with erectile dysfunction (ED) and age using real-world claims data from 48 million men in the United States.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional, non-interventional study in men aged ≥18 years using data from the Truven Health MarketScan and Medicare Supplemental Research Databases from January 2010 to December 2015, with an observational period of January 2011 to December 2014 to allow for 12 months pre- and post-index. Comorbidity rate was compared between ED and non-ED groups by age using the χ (bivariate) test. Comorbidity relationship to ED after controlling for categorical variables was assessed using logistic regression analysis.

Results: In all, 48 004 379 men were in the database. Of the 9 839 578 who met the inclusion criteria, 573 313 (6%) were ED patients and 9 266 265 (94%) were non-ED patients. ED diagnosis increased decade to decade from 18-29 years to 50-59 years but decreased from 60-69 years to ≥90 years. ED patients had a higher prevalence of CVD, DM and depression than non-ED patients in all periods (P < .0001). After controlling for potential demographic and baseline confounders, the association between ED and CVD, DM and depression remained significant for each age group beginning at 30-39 years (P < .0001).

Discussion: Conversations with patients concerning ED should be comprehensive regardless of patient age, in particular in those who have CVD, DM and/or depression.

Conclusions: In the real-world setting, ED diagnosis was associated with CVD, DM and depression across age groups, suggesting a need for inquiry about the potential for comorbidities among these men as a preventative measure against potentially serious future events.