Increased Risk for Cancer Following Erectile Dysfunction: A Nationwide Population-Based Follow-Up Study

Causal associations between prostate diseases, renal diseases, renal function, and erectile dysfunction risk: a 2-sample Mendelian randomization study

Background

Previous observational studies have found a potential link between prostate disease, particularly prostate cancer (PCa), and kidney disease, specifically chronic renal disease (CKD), in relation to erectile dysfunction (ED), yet the causal relationship between these factors remains uncertain.

Aim

The study sought to explore the potential causal association between prostate diseases, renal diseases, renal function, and risk of ED.

Methods

In this study, 5 analytical approaches were employed to explore the causal relationships between various prostate diseases (PCa and benign prostatic hyperplasia), renal diseases (CKD, immunoglobulin A nephropathy, membranous nephropathy, nephrotic syndrome, and kidney ureter calculi), as well as 8 renal function parameters, with regard to ED. All data pertaining to exposure and outcome factors were acquired from publicly accessible genome-wide association studies. The methods used encompassed inverse variance weighting, MR-Egger, weighted median, simple mode, and weighted mode residual sum and outlier techniques. The MR-Egger intercept test was utilized to assess pleiotropy, while Cochran's Q statistic was employed to measure heterogeneity.

Outcomes

We employed inverse variance weighting MR as the primary statistical method to assess the causal relationship between exposure factors and ED.

Results

Genetically predicted PCa demonstrated a causal association with an elevated risk of ED (odds ratio, 1.125; 95% confidence interval, 1.066-1.186; P < .0001). However, no compelling evidence was found to support associations between genetically determined benign prostatic hyperplasia, CKD, immunoglobulin A nephropathy, membranous nephropathy, nephrotic syndrome, kidney ureter calculi, and the renal function parameters investigated, and the risk of ED.

Clinical Implications

The risk of ED is considerably amplified in patients diagnosed with PCa, thereby highlighting the importance of addressing ED as a significant concern for clinicians treating individuals with PCa.

Strengths and Limitations

This study's strength lies in validating the PCa-ED association using genetic analysis, while its limitation is the heterogeneity in study results.

Conclusion

The results of this study suggest a potential link between PCa and a higher risk of ED.

The association between sexual dysfunction and prostate cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Whether there is a connection between sexual dysfunction (SD) and prostate cancer (PCa) is controversial.

AIM

We sought to review the interrelationship between SD and PCa and to determine whether there is a definitive risk of men developing PCa after suffering from SD.

METHODS

A complete search of the PubMed, Web of Science, Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases was performed to search for eligible studies published up to October 2022. The protocol for this meta-analysis is available from PROSPERO (ID: CRD42022342381).

OUTCOMES

The associations between SD and the risk of PCa were assessed by calculating pooled ORs with 95% CIs, and the standard mean difference (SMD) and its 95% CI were used to assess the relationship between SD and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels or prostate volume (PV). Random-effects models were used to account for potential heterogeneity, and the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to evaluate the quality of the included studies.

RESULTS

Twenty studies involving 215,626 individuals were included in our meta-analysis. Compared with controls, subjects with SD had a 1.62-fold increased risk of PCa (OR = 1.62, 95% CI, 1.77-2.23, P = .003; heterogeneity: I2 = 97.8%, P < .001). Patients with SD had higher PSA levels than controls (SMD =0.07, 95% CI, 0.00 to 0.13, P = .041; heterogeneity: I2 = 55.6%, P = .027). However, there was no association between SD and PV (SMD = 0.03, 95% CI, -0.05 to 0.11, P = .122; heterogeneity: I2 = 48.5%, P = .100).

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Current evidence confirms a potential link between SD and the risk of PCa and that SD in PCa patients should be of concern to clinicians.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

The strength of this study is that it is to our knowledge the first meta-analysis of studies on the risk of PCa in men with SD. A limitation is that most of the studies included in this meta-analysis focused on ED.

CONCLUSION

Our systematic review and meta-analysis results suggest that men with SD have a higher risk of PCa and higher PSA levels than men without SD. However, this is merely inferential, and causality cannot be determined based on the current data. Further longitudinal studies should be performed to validate our preliminary findings.

Association between Periodontal disease and Prostate cancer: Results of a 12-year Longitudinal Cohort Study in South Korea

The incidence of prostate cancer (PC) accompanying periodontal disease (PD) is anticipated to increase due to population aging. The aim of this study was to determine the association between PD and PC using data in the National Health Insurance Service-Health Examinee Cohort (NHIS-HEC). A random stratified sample of 187,934 South Koreans was collected from the NHIS database from 2002 to 2013. We assessed the relationship between PD and PC while adjusting for potential confounding factors (sex, age, household income, insurance status, residence area, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cerebral infarction, angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, smoking status, alcohol intake, and regular exercise). The overall incidence of PC with PD among those aged 40 years and older was 0.28% (n = 531). In the multivariate Cox proportional-hazard regression analysis with adjustment for confounding factors, PD was associated with a 14% higher risk of PC (HR = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.01-1.31, P = 0.042). The findings of this study suggest that PD is significantly and positively associated with PC. Further studies are required to identify the mechanisms underlying the links between PD and PC.

Erectile dysfunction and the risk of prostate cancer

Background

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer death among men in developed countries. Because some risk factors are common between erectile dysfunction (ED) and PCa, we investigated the association between ED and subsequent PCa.

Methods

This nationwide population-based cohort study used data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database for the period 2000–2010. We identified patients newly diagnosed with ED by using codes from the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification.

Results

In total, 5858 and 23432 patients were enrolled in the ED and non-ED cohorts, respectively. After adjustment for age, sex, and comorbidities, the overall incidence densities of PCa were significantly higher in the ED cohort than in the non-ED cohort, with an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.19. The age-specific relative risk of PCa was significantly higher for all age groups in the ED cohort than in the non-ED cohort. Compared with patients without ED, those with organic ED had a 1.27-fold higher risk of PCa.

Conclusion

ED is a harbinger of PCa in some men. Physicians should consider the possibility of occult PCa in patients with ED regardless of age and comorbidities.

Prevalence of chronic diseases among physicians in Taiwan: a population-based cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVES

The health of physicians is an important topic which needs to be addressed in order to provide the best quality of patient care. However, there are few studies on the prevalence of chronic diseases among physicians. In this study, we explored the prevalence of chronic diseases among physicians and compared the probability of chronic diseases between physicians and the general population using a population-based data set in Taiwan.

STUDY DESIGN

A cross-sectional study.

SETTING

Taiwan.

PARTICIPANTS

Our study consisted of 1426 practising physicians and 5704 general participants.

PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES

We chose 22 chronic diseases from the Elixhauser Comorbidity index and nine highly prevalent medical conditions in an Asian population for analysis. We used conditional logistic regression analyses to investigate the OR and its corresponding 95% CI of chronic diseases between these two groups.

RESULTS

The conditional logistic regression analyses showed that physicians had lower odds of peripheral vascular disorders (OR=0.41, 95% CI=0.19 to 0.90), uncomplicated diabetes (OR=0.76, 95% CI=0.60 to 0.97), complicated diabetes (OR=0.53, 95% CI=0.34 to 0.83), renal failure (OR=0.41, 95% CI=0.19 to 0.90), liver diseases (OR=0.78, 95% CI=0.66 to 0.94), and hepatitis B or C (OR=0.62, 95% CI=0.49 to 0.77) and higher odds of hypertension (OR=1.21, 95% CI=1.03 to 1.41), hyperlipidaemia (OR=1.43, 95% CI=1.23 to 1.67) and asthma (OR=1.59, 95% CI=1.16 to 2.18) than the general population.

CONCLUSIONS

We concluded that although physicians had decreased prevalence of some chronic diseases, they had a significantly increased prevalence of hypertension, hyperlipidaemia and asthma.

Basic Science Evidence for the Link Between Erectile Dysfunction and Cardiometabolic Dysfunction

INTRODUCTION

Although clinical evidence supports an association between cardiovascular/metabolic diseases (CVMD) and erectile dysfunction (ED), scientific evidence for this link is incompletely elucidated.

AIM

This study aims to provide scientific evidence for the link between CVMD and ED.

METHODS

In this White Paper, the Basic Science Committee of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America assessed the current literature on basic scientific support for a mechanistic link between ED and CVMD, and deficiencies in this regard with a critical assessment of current preclinical models of disease.

RESULTS

A link exists between ED and CVMD on several grounds: the endothelium (endothelium-derived nitric oxide and oxidative stress imbalance); smooth muscle (SM) (SM abundance and altered molecular regulation of SM contractility); autonomic innervation (autonomic neuropathy and decreased neuronal-derived nitric oxide); hormones (impaired testosterone release and actions); and metabolics (hyperlipidemia, advanced glycation end product formation).

CONCLUSION

Basic science evidence supports the link between ED and CVMD. The Committee also highlighted gaps in knowledge and provided recommendations for guiding further scientific study defining this risk relationship. This endeavor serves to develop novel strategic directions for therapeutic interventions.

Increased risk of prostate cancer following sexually transmitted infection in an Asian population

The relationship between sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and prostate cancer (PC) remains inconclusive. Moreover, all such studies to date have been conducted in Western populations. This study aimed to investigate the risk of PC following STI using a population-based matched-cohort design in Taiwan. The study cohort comprised 1055 patients with STIs, and 10 550 randomly selected subjects were used as a comparison cohort. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis revealed that the hazard ratio for PC during the 5-year follow-up period for patients with a STI was 1.95 (95% confidence interval 1.18-3.23), that of comparison subjects after adjusting for urbanization level, geographical region, monthly income, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidaemia, obesity, chronic prostatitis, history of vasectomy, tobacco use disorder, and alcohol abuse. We concluded that the risk of PC was higher for men who were diagnosed with a STI in an Asian population.

Increased risk of erectile dysfunction among males with central serous chorioretinopathy -- a retrospective cohort study

PURPOSE

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) mostly affects middle-aged men and has been associated with stress and hypercortisolism. We hypothesized that some factors prone to inducing CSCR could also have a harmful effect on erectile function. This study aimed to investigate the risk of subsequent erectile dysfunction after CSCR using Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database.

METHODS

The study cohort (n = 1220) consisted of newly diagnosed CSCR men aged 19-64 years between 1999 and 2007, and men matched for age, monthly income and time of enrolment were randomly selected as the control group (n = 10870). Cox proportional hazard regressions were performed to calculate the hazard ratios (HR) of clinically diagnosed erectile dysfunction (including organic origin and/or psychogenic origin) for the two groups. Erectile dysfunction-free survival analysis was assessed using a Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

Twenty-five patients (2.0%) from the CSCR cohort and 103 (0.9%) from the control group were diagnosed erectile dysfunction clinically during a mean observation period of 4.3 years. Patients with CSCR had a significantly higher incidence of erectile dysfunction diagnosis than those without CSCR (p < 0.001). After adjusting for age, geographic location, chronic comorbidities and medication habits, patients with CSCR were found to have a 2.22-fold [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.42-3.46] higher hazard ratio of a subsequent erectile dysfunction diagnosis than the matched controls. The adjusted HR for organic and psychogenic erectile dysfunction were 2.14 (95% CI: 1.34-3.44) and 3.83 (95% CI: 1.47-10.01), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Central serous chorioretinopathy was independently associated with an increased risk of being diagnosed with erectile dysfunction.

Association between ED in ankylosing spondylitis: a population-based study

Even though a growing number of studies have found that patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) suffer from sexual problems, only very few studies have specifically addressed the relationship between AS and ED. Using a population-based data set, this case-control study aimed to examine the association of ED with a prior diagnosis of AS in Taiwan. We selected 2213 ED patients ≥40 years old and 17,704 matched controls. We considered the date of the first diagnosis of ED as the index date for cases. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) for the association between previously diagnosed AS and ED. A total of 224 out of the 19,917 sampled subjects (1.1%) had been diagnosed with AS before the index date. Prior AS was found in 42 (1.9%) cases and 182 (1.0%) controls. After adjusting for geographic location, urbanization level, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, obesity, depressive disorder and alcohol abuse/alcohol-dependence syndrome, multivariate logistic regression revealed that cases were more likely to have been previously diagnosed with AS than controls (OR=1.58, 95% CI=1.09-2.19, P=0.019). There was an association between ED and AS. We suggest that physicians should be attentive to sexual complaints from AS patients in order to refer them to other specialists for multidisciplinary management.

Increased risk of diabetes following perianal abscess: a population-based follow-up study

PURPOSE

It remains unclear whether perianal abscess is a prediabetes condition or the initial presentation of type 2 diabetes. Using a population-based dataset, this study aimed to explore the risk of type 2 diabetes following perianal abscess.

METHODS

We used data sourced from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000. In total, there were 1,419 adult patients with perianal abscess in the study group and 7,095 randomly selected subjects in the comparison group. Stratified Cox proportional hazards regressions were carried out to evaluate the association between being diagnosed with perianal abscess and receiving a subsequent diagnosis of diabetes within 5 years.

RESULTS

Of the total 8,514 sampled subjects, the incidence rate of diabetes per 100 person-years was 1.87 (95 % confidence interval (CI) = 1.74-2.01); the rate among patients with perianal abscess was 3.00 (95 % CI = 2.60-3.43) and was 1.65 (95 % CI = 1.52-1.79) among comparison patients. Stratified Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that patients with perianal abscess were more likely to have received a diagnosis of diabetes than comparison patients (hazard ratio = 1.80, 95 % CI = 1.50-2.16, p < 0.001) during the 5-year follow-up period after censoring cases that died from nondiabetes causes and adjusting for patient geographic location, urbanization level, monthly income, hypertension, coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and alcohol abuse/alcohol dependence syndrome at baseline.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that patients with perianal abscess have a higher chance of contracting type 2 diabetes mellitus within the first 5 years following their diagnosis.

Increased risk of cancer after Bell's palsy: a 5-year follow-up study

Reactivation of latent herpes simplex virus (HSV) type I or varicella-zoster virus (VZV) has been recognized as the most common pathomechanism underlying Bell's palsy. There is also increased reactivation of HSV or VZV in patients with immunosuppressed states and in cancer patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the risk for cancer during a 5-year follow-up period after diagnosis of Bell's palsy by using a population-based dataset in Taiwan. We used data from the "Longitudinal Health Insurance Database". We identified 2,618 patients with Bell's palsy as the study cohort and randomly selected 13,090 patients to be used as a comparison cohort. Cox proportional hazards regression was performed to compare the 5-year risk of subsequent cancer between the study and comparison cohorts. We found that the incidence of cancer was 1.55 (95 % CI 1.35-1.78) per 100 person-years for patients with Bell's palsy and 1.09 (95 % CI 1.02-1.18) per 100 person-years for comparison patients. After censoring cases that died from non-cancer causes during the follow-up period and adjusting for urbanization, monthly income, geographic region, and diabetes, the hazard ratio (HR) for cancer during the 5-year follow-up period for patients with Bell's palsy was 1.43 times that for comparison patients (95 % CI 1.22-1.73). There was a particularly increased risk of oral cancer (HR = 2.49; 95 % CI 1.54-4.03) for patients with Bell's palsy compared with the other patients. We conclude that patients with Bell's palsy were at significant risk of cancer during a 5-year follow-up period after diagnosis.

Haemorrhoids are associated with erectile dysfunction: a population-based study

Haemorrhoids are associated with regional vascular abnormalities and rectal pain, which are hypothesized to increase the risk of erectile dysfunction (ED); however, few studies have investigated the association between ED and haemorrhoids. This case-control study aimed to estimate the association between haemorrhoids and ED by using a population-based data in Taiwan. We identified 6,310 patients with ED as cases and randomly selected 31,550 controls. Conditional logistic regression was performed to compute the odds ratio (OR) for having been previously diagnosed with haemorrhoids between cases and controls. The results show that haemorrhoids were found to be present among 1,572 (24.9%) cases and 4,491 (14.20%) controls. The OR for prior haemorrhoids among cases was 1.90 (95% CI = 1.78-2.03) when compared with controls after adjusting for monthly income, geographical location, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, obesity and alcohol abuse/alcohol dependence syndrome. Younger cases demonstrated a higher risk for prior haemorrhoids when compared with controls. In particular, the adjusted OR among cases <30 years old was 3.71 (95% CI = 2.74-5.02) when compared with controls. We concluded that there was an association between ED and a prior diagnosis of haemorrhoids.

A case-control analysis on the association between erectile dysfunction and sudden sensorineural hearing loss in Taiwan

INTRODUCTION

Although the cause of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is yet to be elucidated, many theories have been proposed regarding potentially contributory etiologies. One increasingly well-supported theory purports an underlying vascular pathomechanism. If this is the case, SSNHL may also associate with conditions comorbid with vascular diseases, such as erectile dysfunction (ED). However, no studies to date have investigated the association between ED and SSNHL.

AIM

This study set out to estimate a putative association between ED and having been previously diagnosed with SSNHL using a population-based dataset with a case-control design.

METHODS

This study used administrative claim data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance program. We identified 4,504 patients with ED as the study group and randomly selected 22,520 patients as the comparison group. Conditional logistic regression was used to examine the association between ED and having previously received a diagnosis of SSNHL.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

The prevalence and risk of SSNHL between cases and controls were calculated.

RESULTS

Of the sampled patients, 41 (0.15%) had been diagnosed with SSNHL before the index date; 22 (0.49% of the cases) were from the study group and 19 (0.08% of controls) were from the control group. Conditional logistic regression analysis revealed that after adjusting for the patient's monthly income, geographic location, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, obesity, and alcohol abuse/alcohol dependence syndrome status, patients with ED were more likely than controls to have been diagnosed with SSNHL before the index date (odds ratio = 6.06, 95% confidence interval = 3.25-11.29).

CONCLUSIONS

There was an association between ED and prior SSNHL. The results of this study add to the evidence supporting an underlying vascular pathomechanism regarding the development of SSNHL and highlight a need for clinicians dealing with SSNHL patients to be alert to the development of ED.

Association of erectile dysfunction with atopic dermatitis: a population-based case-control study

INTRODUCTION

Some studies have highlighted the high prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in patients with dermatological diseases such as psoriasis, chronic hand eczema, and systemic sclerosis. However, to date, there is still no study that has explored the relationship between ED and atopic dermatitis (AD).

AIM

Using a population-based data set, this case-control study aimed to examine the association of ED with prior AD by comparing the risk of prior AD between patients with ED and matched controls in Taiwan.

METHODS

This study used administrative claims data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance program. We identified 3,997 patients with newly diagnosed ED as cases and randomly selected 19,985 subjects without a history of ED as controls. Conditional logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI) for previously diagnosed AD between cases and controls.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

The prevalence and risk of having been previously diagnosed with AD between cases and controls were calculated.

RESULTS

Of the 23,982 sampled subjects, 1,758 (7.3%) had been previously diagnosed with AD; it was found among 425 (10.6%) cases and among 1,333 (6.7%) controls (P<0.001). Conditional logistic regression analysis demonstrated that cases were more likely to have prior AD than controls (OR=1.60, 95% CI=1.42-1.80, P<0.001) after adjusting for monthly income, geographic location, urbanization level, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and alcohol abuse/alcohol dependence syndrome.

CONCLUSIONS

There was an association between ED and prior AD. We suggest that clinicians should be more attentive to sexual complaints from patients with AD.

Association between preoperative erectile dysfunction and prostate cancer features--an analysis from the Duke Prostate Center Database

INTRODUCTION

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is related to several co-morbidities including obesity, metabolic syndrome, cigarette smoking, and low testosterone, all of which have been reported to be associated with adverse prostate cancer features.

AIM

To examine whether preoperative ED has a relationship with adverse prostate cancer features in patients who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP).

METHODS

We analyzed data from our institution on 676 patients who underwent RP between 2001 and 2010. Crude and adjusted logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between preoperative ED and several pathological parameters. The log-rank test and multivariate proportional hazards model were conducted to determine the association of preoperative ED with biochemical recurrence (BCR).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

The expanded prostate cancer index composite (EPIC) instrument was used to evaluate preoperative erectile function (EF). Preoperative normal EF was defined as EPIC-SF ≥ 60 points while ED was defined as preoperative EPIC-SF lower than 60 points.

RESULTS

Preoperatively, a total of 343 (50.7%) men had normal EF and 333 (49.3%) men had ED. After adjusting for covariates, preoperative ED was identified a risk factor for positive extracapsular extension (OR 1.57; P = 0.029) and high percentage of tumor involvement (OR 1.56; P = 0.047). In a Kaplan-Meier curve, a trend was identified that patients with ED had higher incidence of BCR than men with normal EF (P = 0.091). Moreover, using a multivariate Cox model, higher preoperative EF was negatively associated with BCR (HR 0.99; P = 0.014).

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the likelihood for adverse pathological outcomes as well as BCR following prostatectomy is higher among men with preoperative ED, though these results require validation in larger datasets. The present study indicates that preoperative ED might be a surrogate for adverse prostate cancer outcomes following RP.

Increased risk of depressive disorder following the diagnosis of benign prostatic enlargement: one-year follow-up study

PURPOSE

In previous studies, benign prostatic enlargement (BPE) and urinary tract symptoms were demonstrated to be associated with depressive symptoms. However, no longitudinal follow-up study to date has evaluated the relationship between BPE and the subsequent risk of developing depressive disorder. This nationwide, population-based study aimed to prospectively examine the relationship between a history of BPE and the risk of developing depressive disorder.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 16,130 adult patients diagnosed with BPE for the first time between 2005 and 2007 were recruited along with a comparison cohort of 48,390 matched enrollees without a history of BPE. All the subjects were tracked for a one-year period following their index date to identify those who subsequently developed a depressive disorder. The Cox proportional hazards model was utilized to compute the risk difference for depressive disorder between cohorts.

RESULTS

Of 64,520 sampled patients, 325 (2.01%) from the BPE cohort, and 531 (1.10%) from the comparison cohort were subsequently diagnosed with depressive disorder during the follow-up period. The risk of developing depressive disorder within one-year following diagnosis with BPE was found to be 1.87 (95% CI=1.63-2.16, p<0.001) times the risk in absence of BPE after adjusting for the patients' monthly income, and the geographical location and urbanization level of their place of residence.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that patients with BPE are at an increased risk for contracting depressive disorder.

Hyperthyroidism and female urinary incontinence: a population-based cohort study

OBJECTIVE

The imbalanced autonomic nervous system present in hyperthyroidism may cause lower urinary tract symptoms. Urinary incontinence (UI) is the most bothersome lower urinary tract symptom; however, in the literature, reports regarding urinary dysfunction and/or incontinence among hyperthyroid patients are scarce. This population-based cohort study aimed to examine the relationship between hyperthyroidism in women and the risk of developing UI in Taiwan.

DESIGN

This study used data from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database. For this study, 10,817 female patients diagnosed with hyperthyroidism from 2001 to 2005 were recruited together with a comparison cohort of 54,085 matched enrollees who did not have a history of hyperthyroidism. All patients were tracked for a 3-year period from their index date to identify those who had a subsequent UI. The stratified Cox proportional hazards models were used to compute the risk of UI between study and comparison cohorts.

RESULTS

During the follow-up period, of 64,169 patients, 173 (1·60%) from the hyperthyroidism group and 560 (1·04%) from the comparison group, had a diagnosis of UI. The regression analysis showed that, after adjusting for monthly income, geographic region, urbanization level of the community in which the patient resided, obesity and hysterectomy, patients with hyperthyroidism were more likely to have UI during the 3-year follow-up period than the comparison patients (hazard ratio = 1·54; 95% CI = 1·30-1·83; P < 0·001).

CONCLUSION

Our results suggest an increased risk of UI in patients with hyperthyroidism at the 3-year follow-up.

Psoriasis and the risk of erectile dysfunction: a population-based case-control study

INTRODUCTION

Psoriasis is associated with systemic metabolic and cardiovascular disorders, both of which share risk factors with erectile dysfunction (ED). However, few studies have investigated the association between ED and psoriasis.

AIM

This study set out to estimate the association between ED and having previously been diagnosed with psoriasis by using a population-based dataset with a case-control design.

METHODS

This study used administrative claim data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance program. We identified 4,606 patients with ED as the study group and randomly selected 13,818 patients as the comparison group. Conditional logistic regression was used to examine the association between ED and having previously received a diagnosis of psoriasis.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

The prevalence and risk of psoriasis between cases and controls were calculated.

RESULTS

Of the sampled patients, 136 (0.7%) had been diagnosed with psoriasis before the index date: 77 (1.7% of the cases) were from the study group and 59 (0.4% of controls) were from the control group. Conditional logistic regression analysis revealed that after adjusting for the patient's monthly income, geographic location, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease, obesity, and alcohol abuse/alcohol dependence syndrome status, patients with ED were more likely to have been diagnosed with psoriasis before the index date than controls (odds ratio = 3.85; 95% confidence interval = 2.72-5.44).

CONCLUSIONS

There was an association between ED and prior psoriasis. The results of this study highlight a need for clinicians dealing with psoriasis patients to be alert to the development of ED.

Population-based estimates of medical comorbidities in erectile dysfunction in a Taiwanese population

INTRODUCTION

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is usually associated with systemic disorders. This population-based study supports and expands on previous research. It also presents data in a Taiwanese male population where existing data on this topic remain sparse.

AIM

The aim of this study is to analyze the prevalence and risk of 36 medical comorbidities in patients with ED compared with the general population.

METHODS

A total of 2,213 patients with ED and 11,065 matching controls were selected from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Dataset. We chose 22 comorbidities from the Elixhauser comorbidity index, 10 highly prevalent medical conditions in an Asian population, and four male gender-specific comorbidities for analysis.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENT

Conditional logistic regression analyses conditioned on age group and monthly income were performed to investigate the risk of various comorbidities for patients with and without ED, after adjusting for the geographic region and level of urbanization of the patient's community.

RESULTS

Patients with ED were at an increased risk for multiple systemic comorbidities. Conditional regression analyses showed that patients with ED were at a higher risk for hypertrophy of the prostate (odds ratio [OR] = 12.87), chronic prostatitis (OR = 9.36), alcohol abuse (OR = 3.60), drug abuse (OR = 2.62), urinary incontinence (OR = 2.58), ankylosing spondylitis (OR = 2.19), peripheral vascular disorder (OR = 1.98), ischemic heart disease (OR = 1.94), psychoses (OR = 1.97), depression (OR = 1.88), uncomplicated diabetes (OR = 1.91), complicated diabetes (OR = 1.84), hepatitis B or C (OR = 1.71), hyperlipidemia (OR = 1.69), and chronic pulmonary disease (OR = 1.55) than patients without ED.

CONCLUSION

The results show that patients with ED have a higher prevalence of multiple noncardiovascular comorbidities than the general population in Taiwan.