Takeaway
- This review found a high prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in the anxiety disorder population and evidence that suggest ED may be more severe in this population.
- However, the evidence was limited because of the high heterogeneity between the studies.
Why this matters
- In psychiatric practice and primary care, physicians should routinely screen for sexual dysfunction in patients with anxiety disorders.
Study design
- A systematic review of 12 studies (5 cross-sectional; 3 case-control; 4 retrospective studies) including 713,746 participants.
- In all, 113,850 participants were diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, with 111,091 diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), 33 with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), 2594 with panic disorder, and 34 with social anxiety disorder (SAD).
- Funding: None.
Key results
- The prevalence of ED in patients with anxiety disorders ranged from 0.0% to 85% and the median (interquartile range [IQR]) prevalence was 20.0% (5.1-41.2%):
- prevalence ranged from 3.0% to 85.0% and the median (IQR) prevalence was 46.2% (10.5-77.3%) in patients with PTSD (5 studies);
- between 2.0% and 36.2% in patients with panic disorder (4 studies); and
- 0.0% and 20.0% in patients with SAD and OCD, respectively (1 study each).
- The median (IQR) International Index of Erectile Function-5 score ranged from 11.08 to 25.80 with a median (IQR) score of 17.62 (13.88-20.88), which indicated a mild-to-moderate severity of ED.
Limitations
- Risk of bias.
- Heterogeneity between the studies.
This clinical summary originally appeared on Univadis, part of the Medscape Professional Network.