The first cross-sectional comparative observational study of sexual dysfunction in Emirati and non-Emirati Parkinson’s disease patients (EmPark-SD) in the United Arab Emirates
Sexual dysfunction (SD) is a common non-motor symptom in people with Parkinson's disease (PD) yet underreported and undertreated specifically in many ethnic PD groups because of religious, social and personal perceptions. We conducted the first single-centre cross-sectional study in the United Arab Emirates of SD in 513 consecutive patients who agreed to complete the survey questionnaires. Data was collected on SD using the Nonmotor Symptoms Scale (NMSS), Index of Erectile Function, and Female Sexual Function Index. Our results show that the non-Emirati group had higher NMSS-SD scores than the Emirati group. SD was reported independent of ethnicity, race and disease stage (p < 0.001). SD correlated with worsening quality of life (p < 0.001) and anxiety domain, especially in young PD patients (p < 0.001). Our data concludes that there is no significant difference in SD between different ethnicity groups, contrary to common perception. SD appears to be underreported in this population and needs addressing using culturally sensitive bespoke counselling.
Authors
- Haidar S. Dafsari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8849-4233)
- Cristian Falup‐Pecurariu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7394-7161)
- Rajinder K. Dhamija (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6042-7469)
- Tom Loney (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1687-6587)
- Hani T. S. Benamer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1369-8746)
- К. Ray Chaudhuri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2815-0505)
- Vinod Metta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8970-8595)
- Karolina Popławska-Domaszewicz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9154-389X)
- Mubasher A. Qamar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4105-5097)
- Rukmini Mridula Kandadai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4840-5715)
- Vinay Goyal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7813-7117)
- Huzaifa Ibrahim
- Carmen Rodríguez‐Blázquez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3829-0675)
- Guy Chung‐Faye
- Rupam Borgohain (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6734-3305)
- Shaikha Almazrouei
Institutions
- Lady Hardinge Medical College (IN)
- Poznan University of Medical Sciences (PL)
- King's College London (GB)
- Emirates Foundation (AE)
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ES)
- Transylvania University of Brașov (RO)
- Biomedical Research Networking Center on Neurodegenerative Diseases (ES)
- Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (AE)
- King's College Hospital (GB)
- University Hospital Cologne (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2024-11-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-79668-6
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Sexual function and dysfunction studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.77
Funders
- King's College London