Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35173430›Full record

SynthesisInternational journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Sexual Health in COPD: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Ingeborg Farver-Vestergaard, Yoon Frederiksen, Robert Zachariae, Sandra Rubio-Rask, Anders Løkke

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
16citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.8field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Sexual Dysfunction in Patients with Chronic Non-Genital Physical Disease: An Umbrella Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Communication About Sexuality (COSY) Encourages Physical Activity in COPD: A Randomised Trial.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2025
    Trial
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Ingeborg Farver-VestergaardDepartment of Medicine, Vejle Hospital/Lillebaelt Hospital, Vejle, Denmark.
Yoon FrederiksenDepartment of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Robert ZachariaeUnit for Psychooncology and Health Psychology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0001-9076-3068
Sandra Rubio-RaskDepartment of Medicine, Vejle Hospital/Lillebaelt Hospital, Vejle, Denmark.
Anders LøkkeDepartment of Medicine, Vejle Hospital/Lillebaelt Hospital, Vejle, Denmark.ORCID 0000-0002-6905-4141
Vejle Sygehus · DKAarhus University · DKAarhus University Hospital · DKUniversity of Southern Denmark · DK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

COPD has a profound impact on the lives of patients and their partners, but the influence on physical, psychological and social aspects of sexual health has not been reviewed systematically. Searches for studies of the impact of COPD on sexual health were conducted independently by two authors in the databases of PubMed, PsycINFO, Embases, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus and The Cochrane Library. English-language quantitative and qualitative studies assessing one or more aspects of sexual health in patients diagnosed with COPD were narratively reviewed and, when possible, subjected to meta-analytic evaluation. A total of 31 studies, including 4 qualitative, were included. Twelve studies assessing erectile dysfunction with the International Index of Erectile Function were subjected to meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of erectile dysfunction was 74% (95% CI: 68-80%) in a total of 1187 patients with COPD, compared with 56% (37-73%) in 224 age-matched, non-COPD controls. The sexual health outcomes assessed in the remaining studies varied considerably, compromising the comparability of the results. None of the qualitative studies had sexual health as their primary focus. Compared with non-COPD individuals, erectile dysfunction appears to be more prevalent among patients with COPD, but more studies including non-COPD controls are needed to confirm this finding. In addition, the impact of COPD on other physical, psychological and social aspects of sexual health remains unclear due to the lack of comparable assessment methods and study designs.

Indexed as

Pulmonary Disease, Chronic ObstructiveSexual HealthHumansMalePrevalenceQualitative Researchchronic obstructive pulmonary diseasegenderpsychosocial aspectsquality of lifesexual problemssystematic review

Identifiers

PMID35173430
PMCPMC8842639
OpenAlexW4210947162

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.