title: Erectile Dysfunction and Sexual Problems Two to Three Years After Prostatectomy Among American, Norwegian, and Spanish Patients.
abstract: The incidence of erectile dysfunction (ED) and sexual problems after radical prostatectomy has differed greatly in reports from different centers and countries; however, few studies have taken baseline factors into account. We compared the incidence of ED and sexual problems 2 to 3 years after radical prostatectomy in American, Norwegian, and Spanish men for whom selected clinically relevant demographic and medical pretreatment variables were available.
  
  
  
  From 2003 to 2009, 1077 men (United States, n = 494; Norway, n = 472; and Spain, n = 111) scheduled for prostatectomy responded to an Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite questionnaire before treatment and 2 to 3 years after prostatectomy. On multivariate analysis, the odds ratios for ED and sexual problems were calculated, adjusted for the pretreatment variables found significant (P < .01) on univariate analysis.
  
  
  
  For all patients and for those without ED preoperatively, no statistically significant association was detected between the country of prostatectomy and the likelihood of reporting post-prostatectomy ED or sexual problems despite the significant differences among the 3 countries in the unadjusted analyses.
  
  
  
  Adjusting for important pretreatment variables, no intercountry differences were detected. Thus, a thorough knowledge about the pretreatment medical and demographic factors is essential for valid comparisons of the incidence of postprostatectomy ED and sexual problems among different studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway. Electronic address: annhol@ous-hf.no.
authors.forename: Anne Holck
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Storås
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Martin G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Sanda
authors.affiliation: Institut Hospital del Mar d'Investigacions Mèdiques, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Olatz Garin
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Boronat
authors.affiliation: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Emory University Hospital, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Dattatraya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Patil
authors.affiliation: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors.forename: Catrina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Crociani
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitary de Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Francisco
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Suarez
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Milada
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cvancarova
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway; University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Jon Håvard
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Loge
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway; University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Sophie D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Fosså
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009664:Norway; D011468:Prostatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D013030:Spain; D014481:United States
keywords: Adverse effects; International comparison; Prostate cancer; Quality of life