Erectile dysfunction (ED), lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and testosterone deficiency (TD): men's major concern (MMC) – An important portal for promoting men's health?

Abstract

Background Men's major concern (MMC) is a common quality of life issue affecting the aging male population. This paper examines the association between MMC and cardiometabolic diseases in Malaysian men in an urban setting. Methods A cross sectional community based study was conducted in an urban area involving 1046 men, aged over 40 years and above, who were randomly selected using the electoral roll in Selangor Malaysia. Participants were assessed by trained doctors using structured questionnaire which included medical history, IIEF-5 to assess men's erectile dysfunction and IPSS score to assess prostatic symptoms. Clinical assessments including blood pressure, weight, height and waist circumference were performed. In addition, biochemical assessments for fasting blood glucose and lipid profile were done. Results The response rate was 62.8%. The mean age of the participants was 55.8±8.4 (range: 41–93) years. Around two fifth of the participants (39.8%) had no MMC, 28.4% were diagnosed with 1 MMC, 9.9% with 2MMCs and 1.2% with 3MMCs. Increasing number of MMCs were significantly associated with increasing rate of cardiometabolic diseases (No MMC = 26.2%, 1 MMC = 43.4%, 2 MMCs = 63.5% and 3 MMCs = 69.2%) (P < 0.01) and metabolic syndrome based on Asian criteria (No MMC = 21.5%, 1 MMC = 39.0%, 2 MMCs = 49.1%, 3 MMCs = 62.5%) (P < 0.01). Participants with one or more MMC significantly showed a higher proportion of undiagnosed diabetes as well as reported diabetes (No MMC = 1.7%, 1 or more MMCs = 3.6%) when compared to participants without MMC (P ≤ 0.01). Conclusions Men's Major Concerns (e.g., ED, LUTS and TD) were associated with cardiometabolic diseases and collectively, they could be used as an important portal to men's health.