Prevalence and Determinants of Erectile Dysfunction in Adult Hypertensives in South East Nigeria

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a recurrent or persistent inability to attain or maintain a strong erection for satisfactory sexual intercourse. It is a common comorbid condition in hypertension due to vascular dysfunctions and the effect of hypertensive therapy. ED, though not a malignant condition, has some significant negative physiological and psychological impact on the man. Aim: The study was to assess erectile dysfunction and its relationship with family function in adult hypertensive males attending the general outpatient clinic at UNTH Enugu. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study involving 200 consenting respondents who met the inclusion criteria. The participants were recruited through systematic random sampling. Their socio-demographic and clinical information were collected using semi-structured questionnaires. ED and family function were assessed using the 5-item International Index on Erectile Function (IIEF-5) and family APGAR respectively. Data were entered into the software statistical package (SPSS) version 21. Results: The majority of the participants were above 57 years (59.9%), having a mean age of 60.10 ±10.31years.The prevalence of erectile dysfunction was 70% (95%CI:63.1% -76.3%).The prevalence of mild, mild-moderate, moderate, and severe erectile dysfunction among the respondents were 8.6%, 30.7%, 29.3%, and 31.4% respectively. The significant predictors for erectile dysfunction identified were older age (57 years and above), long duration of hypertension (above 5 years), and use of diuretics. Conclusion: The findings of this study support existing literatures on the high burden of erectile dysfunction in hypertensive men(i.e. among the study population). It also indicated a strong correlation between older age, use of diuretics, and psychosocial factors, specifically family functioning and the occurrence of ED.