Association Between Objectively Measured Physical Activity and Erectile Dysfunction among a Nationally Representative...

Emerging work suggests an inverse association between physical activity and erectile dysfunction (ED). The majority of this cross-sectional research comes from convenience samples and all studies on this topic have employed self-report physical activity methodology.

Therefore, the purpose of this brief-report, confirmatory research study was to examine the association between objectively measured physical activity and ED in a national sample of Americans.

Data from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were used. Six hundred ninety-two adults between the ages of 50 and 85 years (representing 33.2 million adults) constituted the analytic sample. Participants wore an ActiGraph 7164 accelerometer (ActiGraph, Pensacola, FL, USA) for up to 7 days with ED assessed via self-report.

The main outcome measure used was ED assessed via self-report.

After adjustments, for every 30 min/day increase in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, participants had a 43% reduced odds of having ED (odds ratioadjusted  = 0.57; 95% confidence interval: 0.40-0.81; P = 0.004).

This confirmatory study employing an objective measure of physical activity in a national sample suggests an inverse association between physical activity and ED.