Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Risk of Erectile Dysfunction: A Nationwide Cohort Study in Taiwan

Abstract

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the association between posttraumatic stress disorder and the risk of developing erectile dysfunction.METHODS: In this population-based, retrospective cohort study, we used Taiwan’s National Health Insurance Research Database to analyze the patients who were newly diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) between 2000 and 2013, with a 1:3 ratio by age, and index year matched in the non-PTSD comparison group, for the risk of erectile dysfunction. RESULTS: In total, five out of 1,079 patients with PTSD developed erectile dysfunction, and three out of 3,237 patients in the non-PTSD group (47.58 vs 9.03 per 100,000 per person-year) developed erectile dysfunction. The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that the PTSD cohort had a significantly higher risk of erectile dysfunction (log-rank, p<0.001). The Cox regression analysis revealed that the study subjects were more likely to develop an injury (HR: 12.898, 95% CI=2.453- 67.811, p=0.003) after adjusting for age, monthly income, urbanization level, geographic region, and comorbidities. Psychotropic medications in the patients with PTSD were not associated with the risk of erectile dysfunction.CONCLUSIONS: Patients who suffered PTSD had a higher risk of developing erectile dysfunction.