Lower urinary tract symptoms and erectile dysfunction from urological consultation in Argentina

Erectile dysfunction (ED) and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are often associated, and they both reduce the quality of life of those who suffer from these conditions.

Primarily, to determine the relationship of LUTS/BPH as an independent risk factor for suffering ED and, secondarily, the relationship of LUTS/BPH and ED according to the severity of the symptoms.

A descriptive, analytic, multicentre study was carried out in 580 patients consulting for prostatic control or LUTS. 305 patients, who met the inclusion/exclusion criteria, were included in the analysis. Erectile dysfunction and LUTS were assessed by IIEF5 and IPSS. The presence, predictors and degree of severity of ED were examined according to patients' age and comorbidities. Qualitative and continuous variables were considered for the statistical analysis and simple and multiple regression analyses were applied. A value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Mean age was 62 years (IQR 56-67) ED prevalence in patients with LUTS/BPH was 83.6%. Patients with ED were older, showed a higher prevalence of hypertension and higher IPSS scores (p < 0.05). Multivariate analysis for ED predictors showed that age, diabetes and IPSS score were significantly associated with ED (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS. According to our results, there is a high prevalence of ED in patients with LUTS/BPH, which are also independent risk factors for suffering ED. The presence of ED was more prevalent in moderate LUTS/BPH than in the severe LUTS/BPH. The importance of assessing the sexual health of men consulting for LUTS/BPH is emphasized.