ArticleApplied psychophysiology and biofeedback2021
Heart Rate Variability and Erectile Function in Younger Men: A Pilot Study.
Article in Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Daily tadalafil administration improves cardiac autonomic regulation in men with non-organic erectile dysfunction: a prospective heart rate variability study.Sexual medicine · 2026Article
- Wearable technology-derived digital biomarkers for non-invasive assessment of erectile dysfunction: a cross-sectional pilot study.International urology and nephrology · 2026Article
- Evaluation of psychological stress, cortisol awakening response, and heart rate variability in patients with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome complicated by lower urinary tract symptoms and erectile dysfunction.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Erectile dysfunction (ED) in younger men is an increasing concern. In middle aged and older men, ED was related to lower resting heart rate variability (HRV), but research in younger men is lacking. The present study examined, in a nonclinical sample of 105 men between 18 and 39 years, the association of ED with several parameters of resting HRV. Scores of the 5-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) below 22 were considered as indicating ED. Eighteen men (17.1%) reported ED (mild in 16, mild to moderate in 2). Welch's tests revealed that ED was associated with lower low-frequency power (LF), lower high-frequency power (HF), lower standard deviation of interbeat intervals, and lower standard deviation of the heart rate, which is influenced by both sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. After removing outliers, ED was unrelated to HF. In younger men, erections might be facilitated by a combination of higher parasympathetic tone and relatively higher sympathetic tone in the heart, as indicated by LF and greater standard deviation of the heart rate, a largely overlooked parameter in HRV research.
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Registered trials
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