Red blood cell distribution width values in erectile dysfunction

Purpose

Erectile dysfunction (ED) has increased prevalence by age and significantly affects the quality of life of men and their partners. To investigate the relationship between ED and red blood cell distribution width (RDW) values.

Materials and method

Between September 2019 and December 2019, a total of 192 individuals comprising those that were admitted to the urology outpatient clinic with ED complaints and healthy volunteers from among hospital staff were prospectively included in the study. The participants were divided into two groups according to the international erectile function index (IIEF-5) as ED group (n = 148) and control group (n = 44).

Results

There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of age, smoking status, presence of hypertension, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, total cholesterol, total prostate-specific antigen and haematocrit values. Body mass index, fasting blood sugar, neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were significantly higher in the ED group (28.5 ± 27.4 kg/m² vs 26.8 ± 26.5 kg/m², p = .021, 109.05 ± 49.7 mg/dl vs 93.39 ± 10.2 mg/dl, p < .001, 2.18 ± 1.3 vs 1.74 ± 0.3, p = .031, and 113.7 ± 47 vs 92.4 ± 24.1, p = .004, respectively). The mean RDW values were 13.7 ± 1.1 in the ED group and 13 ± 0.5 in the control group (p < .001). The multivariate analysis revealed PLR [1.02 OR (1–1.04), p = .007] and RDW [2.75 OR (1.56–4.85), p < .001] as independent predictors for an ED diagnosis.

Conclusion

Based on the strong relationship between RDW and ED, we consider that RDW may be a new indicator in the diagnosis of ED.