[Factors for low libido in male patients with sexual dysfunction]

To analyze the factors for low libido in male patients with sexual dysfunction and provide some evidence for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of the condition.

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data on 111 cases of sexual dysfunction (including disorders in erection, ejaculation or libido) treated in the Zhengzhou University First Hospital from June to September 2023. According to the patients' complaints of low libido or accompanied symptoms, we divided them into a normal libido group (n = 68) and a low libido (n = 43), obtained their scores on IIEF-5, Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT), 13-Item Self-Rating Libido Scale for Males (SRLS-M), Patients' Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), examined the levels of the sexual hormones FSH, LH, PRL, T, free testosterone (fT), E2,?insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and growth hormone (GH), compared the basic parameters between the two groups, and analyzed their correlation with the libido values.

The IIEF-5, PEDT and libido scores and IGF-1 level were significantly higher and the GAD-7 score remarkably lower in the normal than in the low libido group (P< 0.05), but no statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in the PHQ-9 score and the levels FSH, LH, PRL, T, fT, E2, T/E2 and GH (P > 0.05). The libido value was correlated positively with the IIEF-5 (r= 0.28, P< 0.01) and PEDT scores (r= 0.29, P< 0.01) and IGF-1 level (r= 0.23, P< 0.05), but negatively with the GAD-7 score (r= －0.21, P< 0.05).

Low libido results from multiple factors, which cannot be fully explained by sexual hormone levels but is closely related to the decreased level of IGF-1 and severity of ED and anxiety.