A case-control study on the association between chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome and erectile dysfunction

Study Type - Symptom prevalence (case control) Level of Evidence 3a What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? In recent years, a number of studies have reported a high prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) among patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS). Several studies have reported that the prevalence of ED ranges from 15.0 to 40.5% in men in China with CP/CPPS; however, the previous studies focusing on the prevalence of ED among patients with CP/CPPS all neglected to explore the magnitude of this association. Our study found an association between ED and previously diagnosed CP/CPPS. The odds of previous CP/CPPS were 3.62 times greater for cases than for controls, after adjusting for patient socio-demographic characteristics, comorbidities, obesity, and alcohol abuse/alcohol dependence syndrome. Objective To examine the association between erectile dysfunction (ED) and a previous diagnosis of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) using a population-based dataset. Patients and methods The data for this case-control study was obtained from the National Health Insurance database. A total of 3194 males, who were ≥18 years of age when they first received a diagnosis of ED, were identified and 15 970 controls were randomly selected. The prevalence and risk of CP/CPPS among cases and controls were calculated by using conditional logistic regression analysis. Results In total, 667 (3.5%) of the 19 164 sampled subjects had been diagnosed with CP/CPPS before the index date; CP/CPPS was found in 276 (8.6%) cases and in 391 (2.5%) controls (P < 0.001). Regression analysis indicated that cases were more likely to have had previous CP/CPPS (odd ratio 3.62, 95% confidence interval 3.07-4.26) after adjusting for patient monthly income, geographical location and urbanization level, as well as hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, renal disease, obesity and alcohol abuse/alcohol dependence syndrome status, when compared with controls. Conclusions We conclude that there was an association between ED and having been previously diagnosed with CP/CPPS. Urologists should be alert to the association between CP/CPPS and ED, and assess the erectile function of patients suffering from CP/CPPS.