Session Information
Session Type: Abstract Submissions (ACR)
Background/Purpose
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is common in the general population. The likelihood of ED increases progressively with age; however, it is not an inevitable consequence of aging. The importance of cardiovascular disease (CVD), as an underlying cause of ED is well established. Patients who present with ED have an increased rate of CVD and silent coronary artery disease (CAD). ED and gout share common risk factors such as age, metabolic syndrome, hyperuricemia and inflammation.
Our aim was to determine whether men with gout may have an increased prevalence of ED as compared to men without gout.
Methods
In this cross sectional study, men aged 18-89 presenting to the Rheumatology clinic between 8/26/10 and 5/13/2013, were asked to participate. The presence of ED was determined by filling out a Sexual Health Inventory in Men (SHIM). SHIM scores correlate with ED severity: 22-25 Normal erectile function (no ED); SHIM score ≤ 21 ED and a score of ≤ 10 denotes severe ED. The patient’s history, physical examination and recent laboratory studies were reviewed as well.
Descriptive statistics and subgroup analyses were used to summarize the data. We used chi-square tests for independence to compare categorical variables.
Results
201 men completed the SHIM questionnaires; 83 had gout. A significantly greater proportion of gout patients had ED (n=63; 76%) compared with patients without gout (n=61; 52 %) (p= 0.0007). A significantly greater proportion of gout patients (43%) had severe ED compared with patients without gout (30%) (p=0.007). The mean SHIM score of all patients was 16.88 (SD±-0.83). Gout patients had an average SHIM score of 14.38 (SD±1.01) versus 18.53 (SD± 0.964) in patients without gout (p < 0.0001). In a multivariate analysis the association between gout and ED remained statistically significant even after adjusting for age (p=0.0009), hypertension, LDL, GFR, obesity, depression (p=0.0154) and diabetes (p=0.0085).
Conclusion
ED is present in most men with gout and is frequently severe. Increasing awareness of the presence of ED in gout patients should in turn lead to earlier medical attention and treatment for this distressing condition as well as evaluation of possible silent CAD. We propose that all men with gout be routinely screened for ED.
Disclosure:
N. Schlesinger,
Novartis Pharmaceutical Corporation,
2,
Takeda,
8,
Sobi,
9,
Astra Zeneca ,
9;
D. C. Radvanski,
None;
J. Kostis,
None.
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