Search

The relationship between male genitourinary conditions and sleep disorders has previously only been reported in single-institution studies with small cohorts. Our objective was to assess the association of erectile dysfunction (ED) and testosterone deficiency with various sleep disorders using a large claims database. The TriNetX Diamond database was queried in June 2022. In men aged 40–70 years, insomnia, sleep apnea, and circadian rhythm sleep disorder were each independently assessed to determine the association with ED and testosterone deficiency and then followed by propensity score matching performed for age, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, tobacco usage, and obesity. Testosterone deficiency was more likely to be found in men diagnosed with sleep apnea (odds ratio (OR) 1.66 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.65–1.67]), insomnia (OR 1.74 [95% CI 1.73–1.76]), and circadian rhythm dysfunction (OR 2.63 [95% CI 2.54–2.73]) compared to matched controls. ED was more likely to be found in men diagnosed with sleep apnea (OR 1.02 [95% CI 1.01–1.03]), insomnia (OR 1.30 [95% CI 1.30–1.31]), and circadian rhythm dysfunction (OR 1.54 [95% CI 1.49–1.59]) compared to matched controls. Our results emphasize the negative impact of poor sleep on diseases of the male genitourinary system by identifying these relationships in the largest cohort in the U.S. reported to date.

We investigated the prevalence, incidence, and rates of pharmacological treatment of delayed ejaculation using the TriNetX Diamond Network. We included all men evaluated in the inpatient, outpatient, and emergency settings. Prevalence was determined by comparing the number of men diagnosed with delayed ejaculation to the entire population. Incidence was determined by comparing the number of men diagnosed with delayed ejaculation without a prior diagnosis to the overall population without a prior diagnosis. Rates of pharmacologic treatment were calculated by comparing the number of men who received a prescription to the total number of men with delayed ejaculation. Trends in prevalence and incidence were compared using six-month intervals, while trends in pharmacologic treatment were compared using one-year intervals. A total of 23,164 adult males were diagnosed with delayed ejaculation from 2013 to 2019. During the final six-month interval (July to December 2019), 2,747 of 16,496,744 men received a delayed ejaculation diagnosis, and 1,375 of 16,488,270 men without a prior diagnosis were diagnosed with delayed ejaculation. In 2019, only 916 of 4,733 (19.4%) men diagnosed with delayed ejaculation received any prescription, with the most common being testosterone (9.5%), bupropion (6.6%), and buspirone (2.3%). Prevalence, incidence and pharmacologic treatment all had increasing trends.

No study has yet assessed the risk of developing erectile dysfunction (ED) after a diagnosis of long COVID, defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the persistence or presence of new symptoms at least 4 weeks after initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, when compared to those diagnosed with acute COVID or cases in which more severe treatment is required. To assess these risks, we queried the TriNetX COVID-19 Research Network from December 1st 2020 through June 2023. Men aged ≥ 18 diagnosed with long COVID were compared to those diagnosed with acute COVID and analyses were performed to compare men who were/were not hospitalized within 1 month of acute COVID diagnosis and men who did/did not need vasopressors. Cohorts were propensity score matched and compared for differences in new ED diagnosis and/or prescription of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5i). After propensity score matching, the long and acute COVID cohorts included 2839 men with an average age of 54.5±16.7 and 55.1±17.1 years respectively (p= 0.21). Men with long COVID were more likely to develop ED or be prescribed PDE5i (3.63%) when compared to men with only acute COVID infections (2.61%) [RR 1.39; 95% CI 1.04, 1.87]. There was no statistically significant risk of developing ED or being prescribed PDE5i for individuals who received vasopressors [RR 0.92; 95% CI 0.77,1.10] or were hospitalized [RR 0.93; 95% CI 0.82,1.06].