title: Erectile Dysfunction and Undiagnosed Diabetes, Hypertension, and Hypercholesterolemia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated whether erectile dysfunction, a marker for future cardiovascular disease, is associated with undiagnosed cardiometabolic risk factors among US men. Identifying the presence of these risk factors could lead to earlier initiation of treatment for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed cross-sectional data from men aged 20 years and older who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during 2001-2004. Erectile dysfunction was determined by a single, validated survey question. We used logistic regression analyses to investigate the relationship between erectile dysfunction and undiagnosed hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After multivariate adjustment, men with erectile dysfunction had more than double the odds of having undiagnosed diabetes (odds ratio = 2.20; 95% CI, 1.10-4.37), whereas no association was seen for undiagnosed hypertension or undiagnosed hypercholesterolemia. For the average man aged 40 to 59 years, the predicted probability of having undiagnosed diabetes increased from 1 in 50 in the absence of erectile dysfunction to 1 in 10 in the presence of erectile dysfunction.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results underscore the importance of erectile dysfunction as a marker of undiagnosed diabetes. Erectile dysfunction should be a trigger to initiate diabetes screening, particularly among middle-aged men.
authors.affiliation: The Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, School of Population and Public Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Department of Urological Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada sean.skeldon@ubc.ca.
authors.forename: Sean C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Skeldon
authors.affiliation: The Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, and the Department of Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital and University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Allan S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Detsky
authors.affiliation: Department of Urological Sciences, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: S Larry
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Goldenberg
authors.affiliation: The Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, School of Population and Public Health, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Law
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D048909:Diabetes Complications; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cardiovascular disease; disease prevention; health promotion; men; reproductive system; risk factors; screening; sexual function; special population