Objective We assessed the relationship between chronic
prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS) and erectile
dysfunction (ED) using propensity score matching. Methods Data from 8727
middle-aged men who had undergone health checkups were analyzed. The
National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptoms Index
(NIH-CPSI), the International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF), the
Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT), testosterone measurement,
basic blood chemistry, and metabolic syndrome (MetS) assessment were
performed in this study. As in a previous study, the symptoms were
classified as “no” if respondents reported no perineal or ejaculatory
pain or had an NIH-CPSI pain score of <4, and the symptoms
were classified as “moderate to severe” if the pain score was
>7. Of the 8727 men considered, 7181 formed the cohort for
propensity score matching, including 597 men with moderate to severe
prostatitis-like symptoms (case) and 6584 men with no prostatitis-like
symptoms (control); ultimately, however, members of the case and control
groups were matched at a 1:1 ratio by propensity score. Results After
matching, the variables of age, testosterone, PEDT and MetS were evenly
distributed between the groups. After matching, the mean IIEF score of
the case group was significantly lower than that of the control group
(17.2±5.5 vs. 14.7±5.3; P<0.001). Additionally, the severity
of ED was significantly greater in the case group (no, mild, mild to
moderate, moderate, and severe, respectively: 27.5%, 30.2%, 24.6%,
13.1%, and 4.7% in the control group; 10.7%, 27.0%, 33.0%, 18.9%,
and 10.4% in the case group; P<0.001). Finally, the rate of
moderate to severe ED was significantly higher in the case group than in
the control group (17.8% vs. 29.3%; P<0.001). Conclusion
Moderate to severe prostatitis-like symptoms were significantly and
independently correlated with ED in middle-aged men.