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The relationship between body fat mass and erectile dysfunction in Korean men: Hallym Aging Study

International Journal of Impotence Research volume 21, pages 179–186 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between body fat mass (BFM) and erectile dysfunction (ED) in Korean men. This study was a cross-sectional study using data on 208 men (the mean age=67.4±8.2). ED was diagnosed by the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF)-5 and body fat percentage (BF%) was quantified with bioelectrical impedance. BF% was divided into quintiles (quintile 1: ⩽20.5%, quintile 2: 20.6–23.2%, quintile 3: 23.3–25.8%, quintile 4: 25.9–28.8%, quintile 5: ⩾28.9%). Using subjects with quintile 3 of BF% as reference, the adjusted odds ratios of subjects with the lowest quintile of BF% and with the highest quintile were 9.29 (95% CI: 2.29–37.72) and 4.99 (95% CI: 1.37–18.09), respectively. This study showed that BFM and ED had a U-shaped relationship in Korean men. These findings suggest that not only obesity but also a low BFM may be a risk factor of ED in Asians.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Korea Research Foundation (047-BM1028) and the Hallym University (HRF-2004-49).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Seoul Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Inje University, Seoul, Korea

    Y-G Cho & J-H Kang

  2. Department of Family Medicine, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Anyang, Korea

    H-J Song

  3. Department of Urology, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea

    S-K Lee

  4. Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA

    S-N Jang

  5. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea

    J-Y Jeong & D-H Kim

  6. Department of Family Medicine, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea

    Y-H Choi

  7. Department of Cardiology, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea

    K-S Hong

  8. Department of Endocrinology, Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Chuncheon, Korea

    M-G Choi

  9. Department of Statistics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

    S-H Kang

  10. Hallym Research Institute of Clinical Epidemiology, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Anyang, Korea

    D-H Kim

  11. Institute of Obesity, Nutrition and Exercise, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    I Caterson

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Correspondence to D-H Kim.

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Cho, YG., Song, HJ., Lee, SK. et al. The relationship between body fat mass and erectile dysfunction in Korean men: Hallym Aging Study. Int J Impot Res 21, 179–186 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2009.8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2009.8

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