The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #68283

Barbara Sternfeld, PhD¹, Marianne Sadler, MPH¹, Laurel A. Habel, PhD², Stephen K. Van Den Eeden, PhD³, Shelley Enger, PhD⁴, Charles P. Quesenberry, PhD¹, and Bette J. Caan, DrPH¹. (1) Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, 2000 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94610, 510-891-3717, bxs@dor.kaiser.org, (2) Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, 2000 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94610, (3) Division of Research,Kaiser Permanente, 2000 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94610, (4) Southern California Kaiser Permanente, 100 S. Los Robles, 2nd floor, Pasadena, CA 91188

The prevalence of severe erectile dysfunction (ED) is estimated at about 10%. Although relatively effective pharmacological treatments are now available, the role of behavioral factors in the prevention of ED is not well known. To address this issue, we examined the cross-sectional relations between ED and physical activity in 36,071 men (8.6% African American, 14.2% Asian, 54.4% Caucasian, 17.3% Latino, and 5.5% Other), ages 45-69, participating in the California Men’s Health (CMH) study. Designed to investigate etiologic factors for prostate cancer, in a large, multi-ethnic cohort, the CMH sample was randomly drawn from the membership of Northern and Southern California Kaiser Permanente (KP) and is broadly representative of the population of the state. All data were self-reported on a mailed questionnaire. Erectile dysfunction was defined as either severe (9.2%), moderate (20.0) or none/mild (70.8%), according to frequency of difficulty attaining and maintaining an erection satisfactory enough for sexual intercourse. Recreational physical activity, expressed as MET-minutes/week, was categorized into quartiles. In multivariable logistic regression models that adjusted for age, ethnicity, co-morbidity, smoking and body size, total recreational activity was associated in a dose response relation with decreased likelihood of severe ED (odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for quartiles 2, 3, and 4 = 0.70, 56-0.88; 0.51, 0.71-0.64; 0.42, 0.33-0.52 respectively). It was also associated with decreased likelihood of moderate ED (OR, 95% CI = 0.85, 0.73-1.00; 0.73, 0.62-0.85; 0.63, 0.54-0.74). These findings suggest that a physically active lifestyle may decrease the risk of erectile dysfunction.

Learning Objectives:

• List 3 behavioral factors associated with increased risk of erectile dysfunction;
• Discuss differences in the risk of erectile dysfunction associated with physical activity in different domains.
• Articulate 2 limitations of data presented.

Keywords: Epidemiology, Physical Activity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.