Association of depression/anxiety with lower urinary tract symptoms and erectile dysfunction in Chinese men aged from 22 to 50 years.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relationships among lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), erectile dysfunction (ED) and mental health in Chinese men aged from 22 to 50.

METHODS

The subjects were 907 men aged between 22 and 50 years. The symptoms of mental distress were evaluated by the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale questionnaires and Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale questionnaires. The symptoms of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS), LUTS and ED were assessed by the US National Institutes of Health Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI), the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) and the International Index of Erectile Function 5 (IIEF-5) score.

RESULTS

In the study, 894 subjects had their complete data. Their mean NIH-CPSI score was higher for the men with depression and anxiety than for those without (6.2±6.2 vs. 5.0±5.8, P=0.015; 8.7±8.1 vs. 4.7± 5.3, P<0.001), with the mean IPSS score (5.9±6.6 vs. 4.7±5.8, P=0.029; 8.4±8.0 vs. 4.4±5.5, P<0.001). The mean IIEF-5 score was lower for the men with depression and anxiety than for those without (18.3±4.4 vs. 20.2±3.5; 17.2±4.1 vs. 20.1±3.6, both P<0.001). The proportion of total ED was higher for the men with depression and anxiety than for those without (69.7% vs. 57.8%, P=0.002; 81.1% vs. 57.0%, P<0.001).

CONCLUSION

Our study reveals associations among depression, anxiety, and CPPS, LUTS and ED in Chinese men aged 50 years and younger.