WEDNESDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- About one in five men have erectile dysfunction, with Hispanic men under age 50 more than twice as likely to report erectile dysfunction as their non-Hispanic counterparts the same age, researchers report in the Jan. 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Christopher S. Saigal, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of California Los Angeles, and colleagues analyzed responses from 2,536 men aged 20 years or older who participated in the 2001-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They examined the prevalence and risk factors for erectile dysfunction based on household interviews that included medical histories and specific questions about urological symptoms, including erectile dysfunction.
According to the study, 18.4% of men had erectile dysfunction, defined as sometimes able or never able to maintain an erection adequate for sexual intercourse. The percentage increased with age, with 77.5% of men aged 75 years and older reporting erectile dysfunction. However, Hispanic men younger than 50 had an erectile dysfunction prevalence of 12.5%, compared with 4.9% for non-Hispanic men. Erectile dysfunction was independently associated with diabetes mellitus (odds ratio 2.69), obesity (odds ratio 1.60), current smoking (odds ratio 1.74) and hypertension (odds ratio 1.56).
"Erectile dysfunction is common and increases with age, and the prevalence varies by race and modifiable comorbid conditions," the authors write.
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