Erectile dysfunction and symptoms of sleep disorders.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: Sleep apnea often is associated with impotence and/or erectile dysfunction (ED). The purpose of this study was to test whether a presentation for ED confers a pretest probability for obstructive sleep apnea hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS).

DESIGN: A self-report survey for sleep complaints was conducted in consecutive male patients (>16 years of age) presenting to a urologic practice site.

SETTING: The survey was provided to new and follow-up out-patients over a 2 month period of time. Other information collected included the presenting complaint, the clinical diagnosis for ED, and history of preexisting medical conditions.

PARTICIPANTS: N/A.

INTERVENTIONS: N/A.

MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: 285 males [91% of the sample: 50 years old (range 16-82) and body mass index, 27.3 (range 16.8-52.5)] completed the survey. 181 (63%) had complaints of ED; of those, 76% had a final diagnosis of organic and 8.2%, psychogenic or both psychogenic and organic ED. Of all respondents, 35.4% reported persistent snoring, 14% reported persistent waketime sleepiness or fatigue, and 26.8% were at "high risk" (Netzer et al., 1999) for OSAHS. Some were high risk for insomnia (13.6%) and restless legs syndrome or for narcolepsy (2% each). There was a correlation between those with ED complaints (p<0.014) or those with a final diagnosis of organic ED (p<0.029) and snoring. In a logistic model that included age, snoring, and preexisting conditions, only age, depression, and history of hypercholesterolemia, were found to vary significantly among those with and without ED.

CONCLUSIONS: Urology patients will report a variety of sleep problems, but neither persistent snoring nor suspected OSAHS is correlated uniquely to ED.