Relationship Between Cannabis Use and Erectile Dysfunction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Andrology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Global cannabis use and legalization are increasing.
• Cannabis has potential therapeutic effects but also undefined health risks.
• Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common male sexual disorder with potential links to cannabis use.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and summarize the prevalence and risk of ED in cannabis users compared to non-users.
• To collate existing literature on the association between cannabis consumption and ED.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of major databases (inception to January 1, 2019).
• Inclusion of five case-control studies with data from 3,395 men (1,035 cannabis users, 2,360 controls).
• Random-effect model used to calculate odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for ED.

Main Results:

• Overall ED prevalence was 69.1% in cannabis users versus 34.7% in controls.
• Cannabis users had nearly four times the odds of ED compared to controls (OR = 3.83; 95% CI: 1.30-11.28; p = .02).
• High heterogeneity (I² = 90%) was noted, with prediction intervals overlapping 1.00.

Conclusions:

• Data suggest ED is approximately twice as high in cannabis users compared to controls.
• Further longitudinal research is required to confirm these findings.
• Future studies should explore a potential dose-response relationship between cannabis and ED.