OBJECTIVESTo investigate the influence of aging on male sexual function.

METHODSThe study selected 93 ED patients, aged from 23 to 64, who responded to the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) questionnaire. The questionnaire includes 15 items related to male sexual activity, which are organized into 5 domains, namely, erectile function (EF), orgasmic function (OF), sexual desire (SD), intercourse satisfaction (IS) and overall satisfaction (OS). For statistical analysis, ANOVA with DUNCAN test was conducted, and statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Some other risk factors of ED such as hypertension, diabetes etc. had been excluded.

RESULTSAccording to the age, the subjects were divided into 5 groups. With age increasing, the proportion of moderate and severe in each group increased from 16.17% to 57.14%, whereas EF score decreased from (19.50 +/- 4.64) to (15.27 +/- 5.64), OF score decreased from (6.93 +/- 2.86) to (5.62 +/- 2.94), SD score decreased from (6.33 +/- 1.63) to (4.50 +/- 2.94), IS score decreased from (10.17 +/- 1.94) to (6.93 +/- 2.90), OS score decreased from (5.00 +/- 0.89) to (3.15 +/- 1.84). The tendency took on linearity (P < 0.01). Aging was negatively correlated to above mentioned scores (r = 0.98, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONAging could be thought as a risk factor of ED, which is negatively correlated with male's EF, OF, IS, OS and SD scores, furthermore. IIEF questionnaire is a useful tool assessing epidemiology of ED.