Prevalence and Organic Factors Associated with Erectile Dysfunction in Four Tertiary Hospitals in Rwanda

Abstract

Background: Erectile dysfunction is increasingly becoming a global burden with an estimation of more than 320 million men to be affected by 2025. This rise is attributed to increasing risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension and sedentary lifestyle. Our aim was to evaluate prevalence and associated organic factors of ED. Methodology: A cross-sectional prospective study was conducted in four tertiary hospitals where urology services are offered. We included at patients aged 18 years and above who presented with complaint of ED alone or in association with other complaint. IIEF-5 tool was used to assess severity; evaluated presence of organic risk factors and laboratory tests (hormones, lipid profile and glycaemia) were sampled. Data were analyzed using SPSS 25 version. Results: Over a period of two months, 155 men were enrolled out of 1404 men above 18 years of age who consulted urology clinics. The prevalence of ED was estimated at 11.3%. The mean age was 48.9 (SD± 13.9); 103/155 representing 66.5% of patient’s population were alcohol consumers; hypertension was present in 41/155 (26.5%); smoking in 29/155 (18.7%); and diabetes in 28/155 (18.1%). We noted that in population aged less than 40 years of age, alcohol was the only predominant risk factor although it did not correlate with ED; hence they should be screened for psychogenic causes of ED. Conclusion: One out of ten adult male patients consulting urology clinic is having a complaint of erectile dysfunction; diabetes was found to have impact on severity of erectile dysfunction with OR 2.9, p value 0.015 respectively. Further studies are required to assess psychogenic factors of erectile dysfunction in Rwanda especially in young males.