• Damiano Pizzol, Tao Xiao, Lee Smith, SánchezGuillermo F LópezGFL0000-0002-9897-5273Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Murcia, Spain., Andrea Garolla, Christopher Parris, Yvonne Barnett, Petre Cristian Ilie, Pinar Soysal, Jae Il Shin, Mark A Tully, Lin Yang, Nicola Veronese, and Igor Grabovac.
• Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Khartoum, Sudan.
• Br J Gen Pract. 2021 May 1; 71 (706): e372-e380.

BackgroundPrevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in male survivors of cancer across cancer types has not been systematically analysed.AimTo estimate the prevalence of ED in all types of cancer and identify characteristics associated with ED in survivors of cancer.Design And SettingSystematic review and meta-analysis (MA) of cross-sectional studies.MethodMEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and EMBASE were searched, targeting reports published from inception to 1 February 2020. All retrospective or prospective studies reporting prevalence of ED in male patients with cancer and using a validated tool for detection of ED were included. A random-effects MA model was used to pool prevalence of ED as absolute estimates at three different stages, that is, 'healthy', 'at diagnosis', and 'after treatment'. A univariate MA regression including the three-level group variable as the only independent variable was used to assess the difference in ED prevalence across the three groups. Further MAs were conducted for studies involving patients at diagnosis and after treatment, and statistical inferences were made with setting for multiple testing controlling for a false discovery rate (FDR) <0.05.ResultsIn total, 1301 studies were assessed for inclusion. Of these, 141 were potentially eligible and subsequently scrutinised in full text. Finally, 43 studies were included with a total of 13 148 participants. Overall, pooled data of the included studies showed an ED prevalence of 40.72% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 31.80 to 50.29) in patients with cancer, with prevalences of 28.60% (95% CI = 12.10 to 53.83) at time of diagnosis and 42.70% (95% CI = 32.97 to 53.03) after treatment, with significant difference between these two stages and across cancer locations, controlling for an FDR <0.05.ConclusionErectile dysfunction was particularly high in male survivors of cancer and was associated with cancer treatment, cancer site, and age.© The Authors.

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