Comparing risk of post infection erectile dysfunction following SARS Coronavirus 2 stratified by acute and long COVID, hospitalization status, and vasopressor administration: a U.S. large claims database analysis

Aurora J Grutman; Kelli Gilliam; Ankith P Maremanda; Corey Able; Una Choi; Mark N Alshak; Taylor P Kohn

doi:10.1038/s41443-024-00913-7

Comparing risk of post infection erectile dysfunction following SARS Coronavirus 2 stratified by acute and long COVID, hospitalization status, and vasopressor administration: a U.S. large claims database analysis

Int J Impot Res. 2024 May 31. doi: 10.1038/s41443-024-00913-7. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Aurora J Grutman¹, Kelli Gilliam², Ankith P Maremanda¹, Corey Able², Una Choi¹, Mark N Alshak¹, Taylor P Kohn³

Affiliations

¹ The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
² University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston School of Medicine, Galveston, TX, USA.
³ The James Buchanan Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. [email protected].

PMID: 38822168
DOI: 10.1038/s41443-024-00913-7

Abstract

No study has yet assessed the risk of developing erectile dysfunction (ED) after a diagnosis of long COVID, defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the persistence or presence of new symptoms at least 4 weeks after initial SARS-CoV-2 infection, when compared to those diagnosed with acute COVID or cases in which more severe treatment is required. To assess these risks, we queried the TriNetX COVID-19 Research Network from December 1st 2020 through June 2023. Men aged ≥ 18 diagnosed with long COVID were compared to those diagnosed with acute COVID and analyses were performed to compare men who were/were not hospitalized within 1 month of acute COVID diagnosis and men who did/did not need vasopressors. Cohorts were propensity score matched and compared for differences in new ED diagnosis and/or prescription of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5i). After propensity score matching, the long and acute COVID cohorts included 2839 men with an average age of 54.5±16.7 and 55.1±17.1 years respectively (p = 0.21). Men with long COVID were more likely to develop ED or be prescribed PDE5i (3.63%) when compared to men with only acute COVID infections (2.61%) [RR 1.39; 95% CI 1.04, 1.87]. There was no statistically significant risk of developing ED or being prescribed PDE5i for individuals who received vasopressors [RR 0.92; 95% CI 0.77,1.10] or were hospitalized [RR 0.93; 95% CI 0.82,1.06].