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Abstract

Background


Lower urinary tract symptoms and erectile dysfunction are common clinical conditions in men over the age of forty years. Bothconditions have been said to co-exist. No etiological link has been consistently stated. The two clinical conditions have beenreported in patients with benign prostate enlargement. Patients with this condition may present with poor urinary stream, urinarystraining, and poor erection among others. We investigated the association between lower urinary tract symptoms and erectiledysfunction in patients with benign prostatic enlargement.


Method


This was a prospective hospital-based study. All patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to benign prostaticenlargement (BPE) which was established following clinical, laboratory and sonographic evidence. Consenting patients wererequested to complete International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS) and International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5)questionnaires to determine the severity of LUTS and erectile functions respectively. The data was analyzed using SPSS version23.


Results


The age distribution showed a range of 44-80years with a mean of 65.8years +/ 8SD. Majority of the study group were Yoruba(68, 73.1%). Majority of the patients presented with severe LUTS (76, 81.7%). (79, 79.4%) of the study group presented witherectile dysfunction. Although 79.4% of the studied population reported erectile dysfunction (ED). There was no significantcorrelation between LUTS/BPH and ED (p value =0.191).


Conclusion


This study showed that 79.4% of patients with LUTS/BPH had erectile dysfunction. Majority of these patients reported severelower urinary tract symptoms and moderate erectile dysfunction. There was no significant correlation between lower urinarytract symptoms and erectile dysfunction in patients with BPE. Clinicians should endeavor to evaluate for both lower urinarytract symptoms and erectile dysfunction when either of them is suspected.Keywords: Benign prostatic enlargement, Poor urinary stream, Straining, Erectile dysfunction, Nigeria

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