Effect of erectile dysfunction on quality of life.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is one of the most common diseases of male sexual dysfunction. A cross-sectional study of 388 ED patients who attended six andrology and urology clinics in Jeddah for the first time was performed during a period of 3 months. ED was rated as mild (21% of patients), moderate (60%) or severe (19%), and was strongly associated with age. After adjusting for age, only lack of exercise, alcohol consumption and drug addiction were significantly associated with severity; hypertension, cardiac diseases and smoking were not. About two-thirds of the patients had poor quality of life; severe ED was the only significant predictor of this. Severe ED was not an indicator for co-morbidities.