Self-Reported Shorter Than Desired Ejaculation Latency and Related Distress—Prevalence and Clinical Correlates: Results From the European Male Ageing Study

Objective.To determine whether musculoskeletal pain was associated with impaired sexual function in a population sample of middle-aged and older men.Methods.The European Male Ageing Study (EMAS), a multicenter population-based study of men aged 40–79 years, was used to investigate this hypothesis. A questionnaire asked about the presence and duration of musculoskeletal pain, allowing subjects to be classified into 1 of 3 groups: those reporting chronic widespread pain (CWP), those reporting pain but not CWP (“some pain”), and those with no pain. Subjects completed a sexual function questionnaire from which 3 domains were considered: overall sexual functioning (OSF), sexual functioning-related distress (SFD), and change in sexual functioning compared to 1 year ago (CSF).Results.A total of 3206 men [mean age 60 (SD 11) yrs] had complete data on pain status. Of these, 8.7% had CWP and 50.34% had “some pain.” Pain was associated with lower OSF, and higher SFD and CSF scores. After adjustment for putative confounding factors, the associations became non-significant with OSF and CSF but persisted for SFD. Associations between pain status and some items within the sexual functioning domains, including frequency of sexual intercourse, frequency of morning erections, sexual desire, and orgasm were also significant, although these associations varied by pain status.Conclusion.Musculoskeletal pain is associated with several aspects of sexual functioning. These relationships differ depending on the extent of the pain (chronic or not) and are also largely confounded by other health-related factors, primarily depression.

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Perturbed Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) and IGF Binding Protein-3 Are Not Associated with Chronic Widespread Pain in Men: Results from the European Male Ageing Study

The Journal of Rheumatology ◽

10.3899/jrheum.090113 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 36 (11) ◽

pp. 2523-2530 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

JOHN McBETH ◽

ABDELOUAHID TAJAR ◽

TERENCE W. O’NEILL ◽

GARY J. MACFARLANE ◽

STEPHEN R. PYE ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Growth Factor ◽

Binding Protein ◽

Chronic Widespread Pain ◽

Insulin Like Growth Factor ◽

Widespread Pain ◽

Ageing Study ◽

Igf Binding ◽

Igf Binding Protein ◽

Male Ageing ◽

Igfbp 3

Objective.To determine whether perturbations of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) were associated with the presence of chronic widespread pain (CWP) in men.Methods.The European Male Ageing Study (EMAS) is an 8-center population-based study of men aged 40–79 years recruited from population registers. A questionnaire asked about the presence and duration of musculoskeletal pain, from which subjects reporting CWP were identified. Subjects also had an interviewer-assisted questionnaire: levels of physical activity and mood were assessed, and height and weight were measured. IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were assayed from a fasting blood sample. Logistic regression models were used to determine the association between IGF measures and CWP. Results were expressed as odds ratios or relative risk ratios.Results.A total of 3206 subjects provided full data. Of those, 1314 (39.0%) reported no pain in the past month and 278 (8.3%) reported pain that satisfied criteria for CWP. IGF-1 concentrations were similar among subjects who reported no pain and those with CWP: 131.5 mg/l and 128.4 mg/l, respectively. This was true also for IGFBP-3 (4.3 and 4.3 mg/l). Obesity was associated with low IGF-1 and a high IGFBP-3/IGF-1 ratio, indicating less bioavailable IGF-1, irrespective of pain status. This relationship persisted after adjustment for comorbidities, depression, smoking, alcohol consumption, and quality of life.Conclusion.Overall CWP was not associated with perturbations in IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 concentrations. Hypofunctioning of the axis was noted among subjects who were obese and this was not specific to CWP. These data suggest that IGF-1 is unlikely to be etiologically important in relation to CWP, although the relationship with growth hormone remains to be elucidated.

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