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Background and aims Although SLE has a higher prevalence in women, the disease usually has a more aggressive course in men. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED), as well as associated demographic and clinical features in men with SLE, by means of a systematic, standardised evaluation. Methods We performed a transversal study in six tertiary care centres in Latin America. We included male patients≥16 years who fulfilled ≥4 ACR criteria for SLE, and had regular sexual activity in ≤6 months. Patients with other rheumatic diseases (except for APS), chronic viral infections and late-onset SLE were excluded. All patients answered the IIEF-5 Questionnaire, which has been validated in Spanish. Other relevant demographic, clinical and serological characteristics were documented. Results We included 157 subjects. The prevalence of ED in our study population was 68%, the majority were classified as mild to moderate (17.3±0.36 points; normal score: 22–25 points). The mean age of patients with ED was 35.3±1, while in patients without ED it was 32.9±1.3 (p=0.17). The only significant differences were regarding corticosteroid usage in the past year; the rest of the demographic and clinical variables were similar between both groups. (Table 1). After multivariate analysis, independent risk factors for ED were: persistent lymphopenia, age and corticosteroid use in the past year (Table 2). Conclusions Regardless of comorbidities, medication (excluding corticosteroids) and disease duration, SLE patients, who are mostly young and sexually active, have a high ED prevalence. |
