Prevalence of Erectile Dysfunction and Active Depression: An Analytic Cross-Sectional Study of General Medical Patients

Erectile dysfunction is a common problem, affecting more than half of all men between the ages of 40 and 70 years. The authors' goal was to quantify the prevalence of concomitant erectile dysfunction and active depression among patients seen in a general medical setting between September 1998 and September 1999. Simple random sampling techniques were used to select a subset of 334 patients from 73 general medical practices affiliated with an academic tertiary referral center in Pennsylvania. Of the 334 patients sampled, the authors received responses from 268 subjects (80.2%) and completed questionnaires from 199 subjects (59.6%) with a mean age of 59 years. The survey instrument consisted of three major sections: demographic and health history information, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) Scale, and the five-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function Scale. The prevalence of moderate or complete erectile dysfunction in this sample was 36.4% (95% confidence interval (CI): 29.6, 43.1). The prevalence of current depression by CES-D Scale criteria was 12.1% (95% CI: 7.5, 16.7), and the prevalence of concomitant erectile dysfunction and depression was 5.1% (95% CI: 2.0, 8.1). Using logistic regression, the authors found that current depressive symptoms were not associated with moderate or complete erectile dysfunction (odds ratio = 1.3, 95% CI: 0.5, 3.1; p = 0.565). Concomitant erectile dysfunction and depression represent a significant public health problem.