title: Prospective study of restless legs syndrome and risk of erectile dysfunction.
abstract: In our previous cross-sectional study, we found that restless legs syndrome (RLS) was associated with erectile dysfunction (ED). Thus, we conducted a prospective study to examine whether RLS was associated with a higher risk of developing ED based on 6 years of follow-up among 10,394 men (mean age = 63.4 years) in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. RLS was assessed in 2002 using a set of standardized questions recommended by the International RLS Study Group. Erectile function was assessed by means of questionnaires in 2000, 2004, and 2008. We identified 1,633 incident ED cases. Men with RLS were more likely to develop ED (relative risk = 1.38, 95% confidence interval: 1.14, 1.68; P = 0.001) than were those without the syndrome, after adjustment for potential confounders, such as age, body mass index, smoking, physical activity, other sleep disorders, and snoring status. A higher frequency of RLS symptoms was also associated with an increased risk of ED (P(trend) = 0.001). In conclusion, men with RLS had a higher risk of ED, and the magnitude of the risk increased with a higher frequency of RLS symptoms. Combinations of other sleep disorders with RLS further increased the risk of ED.
authors.affiliation: Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Salma
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Batool-Anwar
authors.forename: Sehee
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eric B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Rimm
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ascherio
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012148:Restless Legs Syndrome / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: erectile dysfunction; prospective studies; restless legs syndrome; sleep disorders