An investigation into the relationship between prostate size, peak urinary flow rate and male erectile dysfunction

This study sought to identify whether a true relationship exists between benign prostatatic hyperplasia (BPH) and erectile dysfunction (ED). In a community-based study, 427 men underwent transrectal ultrasound (TRUS), uroflow studies and a questionnaire concerning erectile function. ED had a significant correlation to age (r = 0.19, P < 0.001). But comparisons of prostate volume and analysis of maximum flow rate showed no significant difference between three erectile functional groups; ranging from no ED to complete ED, (one way analysis of variance). However when these two parameters were correlated to age a significant association was found to exist (log prostate volume; r= 0.26, P < 0.001, log maximum flow rate; r= -0.13, P= 0.02). Prostate size and uroflow studies show no correlation with ED, but ED and BPH had a significant correlation with ageing. This makes a direct association between male ED and BPH unlikely but supports the theory that the association between the two pathologies could be due instead to the common link of ageing.