Erectile dysfunction in a sample of patients attending a psychiatric outpatient department

To assess the prevalence of erectile dysfunction among a sample of patients attending a psychiatric clinic, we administered the International Index of Erectile Function on 108 male patients attending the clinic. We also obtained sociodemographic and clinical variables from the patients. The mean age of the patients studied was 39.6 (s.d.=11.6), with a mean duration of illness of 10.24 (s.d.=8.2) years. There were 46.8% schizophrenics; other diagnoses include bipolar affective disorder, recurrent depressive disorder and substance use disorder. The prevalence of erectile dysfunction was 83%. Age, marital status, current medications and the presence of comorbid medical conditions were significantly associated with erectile dysfunction; however, only age and marital status significantly predicted erectile dysfunction. We concluded that erectile dysfunction is highly prevalent among patients attending the psychiatric clinic, as such inquiries about sexual function should be routinely carried out by clinicians.