TWO CLINICAL PROBLEMS IN ELDERLY MEN: OSTEOPOROSIS AND ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION

Seventy-six of 108 random men aged 50 years or over were evaluated for erectile dysfunction with interviews of patients using the International Index of Erectile Function Form and minimal evaluation. Serum hormone concentrations were measured. Bone mineral density was measured using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Hormone levels did not show significance in terms of erectile dysfunction or bone mineral density results. Erectile dysfunction was determined in 57 (75%) of 76 patients. Ten (13.2%) patients had osteoporosis and 45 (59.2%) had osteopenia at the bone mineral density measurements. The distribution of bone mineral density groups relating to erectile dysfunction did not show significance. The frequencies of osteoporosis and erectile dysfunction increased with age, but the association of these conditions seems to be independent of each other and hormonal changes appear not to be the major determinants for both conditions in elderly men.