Risk factors for erectile dysfunction in end-stage renal disease patients with short- or long-term hemodialysis therapy

Background: The influence of prolongation of hemodialysis (HD) period for erectile dysfunction (ED) has not been well evaluated. We evaluated the effects of various factors including hemodialysis duration for ED in hemodialysis patients. Methods: One hundred seventy-eight HD patients including 50 patients who received HD more than 10 years were enrolled in this study. The questionnaire of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF)-5 in Japanese language was used for evaluation of ED status in this cohort. Various clinical factors of these patients were collected from review of medical records, and the relationship between these factors and ED status was also evaluated. Results: The prevalence of diabetes (p < 0.001), obesity (p = 0.011), and hyperuricemia (p = 0.010) were significantly higher in patients with less than 10 years of HD (group 1) than those in patients with more than 10 years of HD periods (group 2). The mean score of IIEF-5 in group 2 was almost similar with that in group 1 (p = 0.452). Moderate to severe ED was also equivalent to that in group 1 (p = 0.988). More than 60 years old (p < 0.001) and absence of hyperuricemia (p = 0.002) appeared to be significant risk factors for moderate to severe ED in multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Long periods of chronic hemodialysis therapy did not affect ED status, and absence of hyperuricemia was the risk factor for moderate to severe ED in HD patients.