Press Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Tom Capezzuto
(973) 972-7273
E-mail: capezzta@umdnj.edu

Survey Confirms Link Between Urinary Symptoms and Sexual Dysfunction in Men

A new survey reveals a strong correlation between the severity of lower urinary tract symptoms and sexual dysfunction in middle-aged men, according to the results of an international study led by researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) and Harvard Medical School.

The Multinational Survey of the Aging Male -the largest multinational survey of its kind--involved nearly 14,000 men between the ages of 50 and 80 from the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. The survey results will appear in the January 2004 issue of the Journal of Urology.

Dr. Raymond C. Rosen, professor of psychiatry and director of the Human Sexuality Program at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, and Dr. Michael O'Leary, associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, conducted the three-month study. It was funded by Sanofi-Synthelabo of New York.

"We found the severity of lower urinary tract symptoms was associated with sexual dysfunction independent of other risk factors," Dr. Rosen said. "In fact, men with severe urinary problems reported a 50 percent decrease in sexual activity and a 33 percent drop in overall sexual satisfaction.

"Men should know that lower urinary symptoms and sexual dysfunction are not just part of aging," he said. "It also can signal an enlarged prostate, a medical condition that can be treated."

Non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate, which affects more than 14 million men in the U.S., is a progressive condition that causes urinary complications, such as frequent and urgent need to urinate, decreased urinary flow and weak urinary stream. If left untreated, this condition can lead to serious health problems, including urinary tract infections, bladder and kidney damage, bladder stones, incontinence and acute urinary retention.

The survey results indicate that erectile dysfunction and ejaculatory dysfunction were more common in men with lower urinary tract symptoms related to an enlarged prostate than in men with other conditions known to be associated with erectile dysfunction, such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiac disease and hyperlipidemia. Ejaculatory dysfunction includes absent, reduced, painful or retrograde (when semen flows backward into the bladder) ejaculation; or diminished sensation or satisfaction.

Ejaculatory dysfunction was almost as prevalent as erectile dysfunction in men with moderate-to-severe urinary symptoms, Dr. Rosen said. Ejaculatory dysfunction was reported by almost a third of men aged 50 to 59, more than half of men aged 60 to 69 and nearly 75 percent of men between the ages of 70 and 80.

"Sexual activity is clearly important to men over age 50," Dr. Rosen said. "Surprisingly, 90 percent of the men surveyed had urinary problems, but only 11 percent were being treated. We found the more severe the lower urinary symptoms were, the more it impacted their sexual function."

"Men should understand that this is a medical condition and confer with their doctors about appropriate treatment," Dr. O'Leary said. "There are treatment options available that work effectively on urinary symptoms without interfering with sexual function."

September is national Prostate Health Awareness Month.

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