Erectile Dysfunction in Patients with Chronic Renal Failure
Messina, L(1); Silva, CH(2); Andrade, E(1); Claro, J(1); Cortez, Í(1); Kaufmann, O(1); Nardozza, A(3); Srougi, M(1)
(1)Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, Departamento de Urologia, Setor de Medicina Sexual. (2)Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo - Centro de Ciências Médicas e Biológicas - Departamento de Enfermagem (3)Universidade Federal de São Paulo - Escola Paulista de Medicina - Disciplina de Urologia
Objective: Determine the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD).
Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out to determine the prevalence of ED in a population of 58 patients in hemodialysis program. Erectile dysfunction was assessed by using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF). Information on demographic data, renal failure, comorbidities, laboratory tests and search for medical treatment for erectile dysfunction by means of interviews and researches in medical charts was obtained. Student t test was utilized to compare the laboratory results between group of patients with and without ED. The chi-square test was utilized to compare the comorbidities and the characteristics of the population studied between the groups of patients with and without ED. The significance level considered was of 5%.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 50.2 ± 14.6 years and the time of hemodialysis was 30.4 ± 28.4 months. The prevalence of ED was 60.3%. A progressive increase respecting the age was reported. In patients younger than 50 years this prevalence reached 35.5% and in patients older than 50 years this prevalence reached 88.9%. With respect to the comorbidities, the hypertensive patients prevailed with 94.8% of the total, whilst the diabetic patients represented 24.9%. However only the association between diabetes and ED was significant. Patients with ED presented significantly lower values for serum creatinine and Kt/V. There was no variation between the groups with reference to the calcium, potassium, phosphorus, haematocrit, haemoglobin, pre- and post-dialysis urea values. There was no correlation between ED and time of dialysis. Amongst patients with erectile dysfunction, 8.6% sought medical care.
Conclusions: The prevalence of erectile dysfunction in patients in hemodialysis program was of 60.3%. Age, diabetes and hemodialysis characteristics are associated with higher incidence of erectile dysfunction.
