title: Erectile dysfunction in ankylosing spondylitis patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Rheumatic diseases such as ankylosing spondylitis (AS) may be associated with sexual dysfunction.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study erectile function of a group of Brazilian AS patients comparing them with controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross sectional study approved by the local Committee of Ethics in Research. The questionnaire IIEF (International Index of Erectile Function) was applied to 40 AS patients and 40 healthy controls. AS patients had determination of disease activity (through BASDAI or Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease activity index), ASDAS (Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score, MASES or Maastricht Ankylosing Spondylitis Score and SPARCC or Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada), function (through BASFI or Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index and HAQ or Health Assessment Questionnaire) and BASMI (Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Metrological Index).
  
  
  RESULTS
  AS patients had a median score on IIEF of 22.0 (IQR=18-25) while controls had 29 (IQR=27-30) with p<0.0001 Only 17.5% of the AS patients had no erectile dysfunction, in opposite to 87.5% of controls (p<0.0001). IIEF scores had a negative association with BASDAI (p<0.0001), HAQ (p=0.05), body mass index (P=0.03), MASES (P=0.02) and SPARCC (P=0.02) in a univariate analysis. Multiple regression showed that BASDAI was the only variable independently associated with IIEF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a high prevalence of erectile dysfunction among AS patients that is associated with disease activity measured by BASDAI.
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Reumatologia, Hospital Evangélico, Padre Anchieta, Curitiba, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Thiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Santana
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Reumatologia, Hospital Evangélico, Padre Anchieta, Curitiba, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Thelma
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Skare
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Reumatologia, Hospital Evangélico, Padre Anchieta, Curitiba, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Vitor Steil
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Delboni
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Reumatologia, Hospital Evangélico, Padre Anchieta, Curitiba, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Juliana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Simione
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Reumatologia, Hospital Evangélico, Padre Anchieta, Curitiba, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Ana Paula B
authors.initials: APB
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Reumatologia, Hospital Evangélico, Padre Anchieta, Curitiba, PR, Brasil.|Departamento de Medicina, Universidade Positivo, Curitiba, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Renato
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nisihara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000150:complications*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Disease; Erectile Dysfunction; Spondylitis, Ankylosing