Published-Ahead-of-Print December 4, 2008, DOI:10.2164/jandrol.108.005678
Journal of Andrology, Vol. 30, No. 3, May/June 2009
Copyright © American Society of Andrology
DOI: 10.2164/jandrol.108.005678
Is Obesity Correlated With Sexual Function in Young Men?
CHIH-WEI TSAO*,
,
CHIEN-YEH HSU
,
YU-CHING CHOU
,
SHENG-TANG WU*,
GUANG-HUAN SUN*,
DAH-SHYONG YU*,
PAO-LUO FAN*,
HONG-I CHEN*,
SUN-YRAN CHANG*,
AND
TAI-LUNG CHA*
From the * Division of Urology, Department of
Surgery, Tri-Service General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; the
Graduate Institute of Medical Informatics,
Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan; the
School of Public Health, National Defense
Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan; and the
Taipei
City Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
|
Correspondence to: Tai-Lung Cha, Division of Urology, Department of Surgery,
Tri-Service General Hospital, #325, Section 2, Cheng-Gung Road, Neihu 114,
Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. (e-mail:
tlcha{at}ndmctsgh.edu.tw). |
The study investigated the correlation between obesity and sexual function
in young men. It was a cross-sectional study in an unselected consecutive
sample of military men aged less than 28 years old attending to the Navy
Recruit Training Center. There were 772 subjects included in the study,
excluding subjects with comorbidities and subjects who had not engaged in
sexual intercourse. All men underwent a detailed health examination, including
physical assessment and taking of medical history. Obesity was assessed by
anthropometric means, including body mass index, waist circumference (WC), and
waist-to-hip ratio. Subjects were categorized into 4 groups by increasing
order according to each anthropometric indicator (quartile method). Clinical
sexual function was evaluated with the International Index of Erectile
Function–5 (IIEF-5) scale score. There was no statistical difference in
IIEF-5 score between smoking and nonsmoking groups (t test,
P = .422). According to analysis of variance, only the anthropometric
indicator WC showed a statistically significant correlation with IIEF-5
severity (P = .032). A possible explanation was that the systemic
effects of obesity and smoking would take place while combined with the
process of aging.
Key words: Central obesity, erectile dysfunction, young adults
Copyright © 2009 by The American Society of Andrology.