1. ¹Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland
2. ²Department of Urology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland
3. ³Medical School, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland

Correspondence: Dr R Shiri, Klaneettitie 1 D 105, Helsinki 00420, Finland. E-mail: r_shiri@yahoo.com

Received 26 July 2006; Revised 22 September 2006; Accepted 28 September 2006; Published online 2 November 2006.

Abstract

It is unclear whether lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) cause erectile dysfunction (ED) independently or through common underlying pathophysiology and shared risk factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ED on the incidence of frequency and bother of LUTS. Target population consisted of men aged 50, 60 or 70 years residing in the study area in Finland in 1994. Questionnaires were mailed to 3143 men in 1994 and to 2837 of them 5 years later. The follow-up sample comprised 1683 men who responded to both baseline and follow-up surveys. ED was assessed by two questions on subject's ability to achieve or maintain an erection sufficient for intercourse and LUTS by the Danish Prostatic Symptom Score questionnaire. A dose–response relation was found between the severity of ED at baseline and the incidence of LUTS or bother during follow-up. After adjustment for the confounders, the incidence rate ratio (RR) of LUTS was higher in men with moderate (RR 1.5, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.0–2.3) or severe ED (RR 2.3, 95% CI 1.4–3.8) than in those free of ED at entry. Compared with men free of ED at baseline, the RRs of urinary bother were 1.6 (95% CI 1.1–2.4), 1.9 (95% CI 1.1–3.2) and 2.2 (95% CI 1.1–4.3) for minimal, moderate or severe ED, respectively. In summary, ED is associated with an increased incidence of LUTS and bother. ED and LUTS may have a common underlying pathophysiology or shared risk factors.