Relationship between Erectile Dysfunction and Family Function among Adult Hypertensive Males in a Tertiary Hospital in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a recurrent or persistent inability to attain or maintain a strong erection for satisfactory sexual intercourse. The aim of this study was to assess erectile dysfunction and its relationship with family function in adult hypertensive males attending the general outpatient clinic at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu.

Methods: It was a cross-sectional study involving 200 consenting respondents who met the inclusion criteria. The participants were recruited through systematic random sampling. Their socio demographic and clinical information were collected using semi-structured questionnaires. ED and family function were assessed using the 5-item International Index on Erectile Function (IIEF-5) and family APGAR respectively. Data were entered into the software Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.

Results: The majority of the participants were above 60 years (45.0%), having a mean age of 60.10 ±10.31years. The prevalence of erectile dysfunction was 70%. Majority (65.5%) of the participants had highly functional families, whereas 33% and 1.5% of them had moderately and severely dysfunctional families respectively. Additionally, the study showed a statistically significant (p < 0.001) relationship between family functionality and erectile dysfunction with 100% of participants with severely dysfunctional families having erectile dysfunction compared to 87.9% of those with moderately dysfunctional families and 60.3% of those with highly functional families having some form of ED.

Conclusion: The findings of this study support existing literature on the high burden of erectile dysfunction in hypertensive men.