Erectile dysfunction in ankylosing spondylitis patients

Abstract

Background Rheumatic diseases such as ankylosing spondylitis (AS) may be associated with sexual dysfunction.Aim To study erectile function of a group of Brazilian AS patients comparing them with controls.Materials and Methods This was a cross sectional study approved by the local Committee of Ethics in Research. The questionnaire IIEF (International Index of Erectile Function) was applied to 40 AS patients and 40 healthy controls. AS patients had determination of disease activity (through BASDAI or Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease activity index), ASDAS (Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score, MASES or Maastricht Ankylosing Spondylitis Score and SPARCC or Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada), function (through BASFI or Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index and HAQ or Health Assessment Questionnaire) and BASMI (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrological Index).Results AS patients had a median score on IIEF of 22.0 (IQR=18-25) while controls had 29 (IQR=27-30) with p<0.0001 Only 17.5% of the AS patients had no erectile dysfunction, in opposite to 87.5% of controls (p<0.0001). IIEF scores had a negative association with BASDAI (p<0.0001), HAQ (p=0.05), body mass index (P=0.03), MASES (P=0.02) and SPARCC (P=0.02) in a univariate analysis. Multiple regression showed that BASDAI was the only variable independently associated with IIEF.Conclusion There is a high prevalence of erectile dysfunction among AS patients that is associated with disease activity measured by BASDAI.

Systematic Review of the Impact of Inflammatory Arthritis on Intimate Relationships and Sexual Function

“…Descriptive characteristics of the 55 included studies are summarised in Table 1. Of the included studies, 50 (90.1%) were quantitative, (7,9,19,27,(60)(61)(62)(63)(64)(65)(66)(67)(68)(69)(70)(71)(72)(73)(74)(75)(76)79,81,82,(84)(85)(86)(87)(88)(90)(91)(92)(93)(94)(96)(97)(98)(99)(100)(101)(102)(115)(116)(117)(118)(119)(120)(121) five (9.1%) were qualitative (77...…”

Impact of Ankylosing Spondylitis on Erectile Function

“…The mean IIEF-5 scores of AS and control group were reported as 22 and 29 respectively (p<0.0001). [18][19][20] In a meta-analysis by Fan D et al including six studies, 340 AS patients and 337 healthy males, the erectile function of AS patients was significantly worse than their healthy counterparts (SMD -0.52, 95% CI -0.68 -0.37). In another metaanalysis by Liu YF et al which included 5 case-controlled trials, a mean decrease of -3.07 was calculated in IIEF scores of patients with AS.…”

Rheumatology-led pregnancy clinic: men perspective

“…For example, in concordance with rheumatoid arthritis, it has been reported that patients with active ankylosing spondylitis, have sexual dysfunction closely associated to their disease activity status, levels of fatigue, functional impairment, quality of life and psychological status particularly depression [11]. Furthermore, similar to DAS-28 in rheumatoid arthritis, BASDAI, but not ESR or CRP, as a measure of disease activity in spondyloarthritis, has been reported to be associated with erectile dysfunction [12]. Similarly, in SLE, an increased prevalence of impotence in men has also been reported [13].…”

“…In systemic sclerosis, erectile dysfunction is a common, but often underestimated, clinical feature in men with SSc. The prevalence of ED in SSc has been reported as ranging from 12 to 81% in different studies [11][12][13][14][15][16].…”