Sleep disorders increase risk of subsequent erectile dysfunction in individuals without sleep apnea: a nationwide population-base cohort study

Abstract

BackgroundSleep disorders (SD) and erectile dysfunction (ED) both play crucial roles in quality of life and have received increasing attention in the general population and among physicians. MethodsThis study investigated the risk of ED in people diagnosed with SD compared with that in age- and sex-matched unaffected people. This longitudinal, nationwide, population-based cohort study was conducted using data in the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD) from January 1998 to December 2011. The sample consisted of 603 people with sleep apnea, 17,182 people with non-apnea SD, and 35,570 matched comparisons as controls. A Cox proportional hazard regression was used to compute the risk of ED in people with SD relative to that in people without SD. ResultsThe ED incidences were 9.44-fold higher (95% CI 6.49–13.7) in the sleep apnea cohort and 3.72-fold higher (95% CI 3.13–4.41) in the non-apnea SD cohort than in the control cohort, respectively, after age, sex, and comorbidities were adjusted for. The incidence of ED was higher in younger adults (adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 10.4 (95% CI 5.93–18.4) in the sleep apnea cohort and adjusted HR, 4.20 (95% CI 3.07–5.76) in non-apnea SD cohort) and those using benzodiazepine (adjusted HR, 9.69 (95% CI 5.48–10.6) in the sleep apnea cohort and adjusted HR, and 3.83 (95% CI 3.20–4.59) in the non-apnea SD cohort). ConclusionThis nationwide population-based cohort study provides evidence that people with SD, particularly those with sleep apnea, exhibit an increased risk of subsequent ED.