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Prevalence of erectile dysfunction in patients with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Growing evidence reports that chronic kidney diseases (CKD) might play a role in erectile dysfunction (ED), but limited knowledge is available. Therefore, we performed a systematic review up to 21/08/2019 to investigate the associations between CKD and ED. The main analysis reported the prevalence of ED as absolute estimates (in %) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and across CKD stages (when specified), hemodialysis and transplant, calculating the p for interaction across strata. Among 291 studies, we included 34 articles with 5986 men. We found an overall prevalence of 76% (95%CI: 72–79) with a high degree of heterogeneity (I2 = 84.2%; p < 0.0001). Analyzing the data by CKD stage, we found a significant higher prevalence of ED in CKD (78%; 95%CI: 75–81%; I2 = not possible) compared with hemodialysis stage (prevalence = 77%; 95%CI: 73–80%; I2 = 84.5) or to patients undergoing transplant (prevalence = 64%; 95%CI: 54–74%; I2 = 54%) (p across strata = 0.036). Considering the high prevalence of ED in men with CKD, health care practitioners should focus on issues of sexual health in men with CKD. Given the advancements in dialysis and therapy and the associated advancements in survival and life expectancy, maintaining the patients’ sexual function is important for their well-being and quality of life.

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Fig. 1: PRISMA flow chart.
Fig. 2: Forest plot of prevalence of erectile dysfunction by CKD category.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Khartoum, Sudan

    Damiano Pizzol

  2. College of Mathematics and Statistics, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China

    Tao Xiao

  3. Department of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention Research, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, AB, T2S 3C3, Canada

    Lin Yang

  4. Departments of Oncology and Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Lin Yang

  5. Primary Care Department Azienda USL Toscana Sud Est, Grosseto, Italy

    Jacopo Demurtas

  6. School of Psychology and Sport Science, Anglia Ruksin University, Cambridge, UK

    Daragh McDermott

  7. Unit of Andrology and Reproductive Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    Andrea Garolla

  8. Unit of Nephrology and Dialysis, AULSS (Azienda Unità Locale Socio Sanitaria) 3 “Serenissima”, 30031, Dolo, Mirano, Italy

    Antonella Nardelotto

  9. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Centre for Public Health, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Igor Grabovac

  10. Department of Geriatric Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Bezmialem Vakif University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Soysal

  11. Department of Nephrology, Bezmialem Vakif University, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey

    Rumeyza Turan Kazancioglu

  12. Geriatric Unit, Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Nicola Veronese

  13. The Cambridge Centre for Sport & Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK

    Lee Smith

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  1. Damiano Pizzol
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Correspondence to Damiano Pizzol.

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Pizzol, D., Xiao, T., Yang, L. et al. Prevalence of erectile dysfunction in patients with chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Impot Res 33, 508–515 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-020-0295-8

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