Prevalence, psychological impact, and risk factors of erectile dysfunction in patients with Peyronie’s disease: a retrospective analysis of 309 cases

Peyronie’s disease (PD) is a chronic inflammatory disease involving the tunica albuginea of the penis. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a possible invalidating symptom of PD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, psychological impact, and risk factors of ED in patients with PD. The study was conducted by carrying out a retrospective analysis of the clinical records of 309 patients with PD who visited our andrology clinic. All patients underwent the following tests: body mass index, common blood tests and hormone assays, questionnaire for erectile function assessment, dynamic penile color Doppler ultrasonography, imaging of the penis at maximum erection with photographic poses according to Kelâmi, psychosexual impact evaluation with PD Questionnaire (symptom bother score), evaluation of depression symptoms with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9, and evaluation of the intensity of penile pain with the pain intensity numeric rating scale. ED was observed in 37.5% of the cases. We divided the cases into two groups: group A (PD + ED), 116 cases, and group B (PD without ED), 193 cases. After multivariate analysis, we concluded that the following comorbidities are independent risk factors for ED: dyslipidemia, obesity, chronic prostatitis, benign prostatic hyperplasia, and autoimmune diseases. A depressive disorder was observed in 62.4%, and it was more frequent in patients with PD + ED (91.37% versus 45.07% group B). Sexual bother was greater in group A compared with group B (9.7 versus 7.6). Intensities of depressive symptoms and sexual bother were significantly higher compared with cases with no curvature when the bend angle was ≥30°. Our study confirms that an integrated psychological support with medical treatment is needed in patients with PD.