(378) Still One Out of Five Men Presenting for Erectile Dysfunction are Young than 40 years of Age: Findings of a Real-life Cross-sectional Study over Last Decade

Abstract

Abstract Introduction Erectile dysfunction (ED) has been demonstrated to be reasonably prevalent among young men (≤40 yr). Objective We aimed to i) assess changes in patterns of reported ED in men ≤ 40 yr, and ii) compare the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of ED men ≤ 40 yr vs. > 40 yr of age over a 8-yr period at a single academic centre. Methods Comprehensive data of 1179 patients seeking first medical help for ED and assessed by a single Sexual Medicine expert between 2013 and 2021 were analysed. Health-significant comorbidities were scored using the Charlson comorbidity index. All patients completed the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) at baseline. Descriptive statistics tested the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of ED men ≤ 40 yr vs. > 40 yr of age. Within the two groups, multivariable linear regression models tested the association between advancing age and IIEF scores. Local polynomial regression models were applied to explore and graphically display ≤ 40 yr patients’ likelihood to report ED over the analysed time frame and to display changes of the IIEF-EF scores over increasing age between the two groups (≤ 40 yr vs. > 40 yr). Results Overall, median (IQR) age was 52 (41-62) yr. Median (IQR) IIEF-EF was 18 (15-22) at baseline. Of all, 268 (22.7%) were ≤ 40 yr whereas 911 (77.3%) were > 40 yr at baseline. Rates of severe ED according to IIEF-EF did not differ between men ≤ 40 yr and >40yr (60 (22.4%) vs. 155 (17%)). No significant differences were found for the IIEF domains (-IS, -OS, -SD) but IIEF-OF domains, which scored higher in younger men (9 () vs. 8 (), p=0.002). At baseline, younger patients reported less comorbidities, less active smoking, lower BMI, higher total testosterone (tT) levels than older patients (all p 40 yr, increasing age was linearly correlated with decreasing IIE-EF (all p 40 yr). Conclusions We observed that one out of five men seeking first medical help for ED at a single academic centre were younger than 40 yr. This trend has remained stable over the last 8-years, but slightly lower than the previous decade. Increasing age among younger patients is not associated with worse erectile function as oppositely occurs among patients > 40 yr. Disclosure No