Evaluation of the frequency of metabolic syndrome and assessment of cardiometabolic index among men with erectile dysfunction: a prospective cross-sectional study.

Purpose: Recently, an association has been observed between metabolic syndrome and erectile dysfunction (ED). This study aimed to evaluate the cardiometabolic index (CMI) in patients with ED. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 144 patients with ED who were referred to a urology clinic in Rasht, Iran, from 2019 to 2021. Metabolic syndrome was evaluated according to National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel (NCEP) and Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria which are considered three positive criteria from five. Also, the ED severity was classified as weak, moderate, and severe based on the five-item International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF5) questionnaire. Results: The mean age of participants was 53.46 ± 10.58 years. 56.9% had abdominal obesity, 48.6% had hypertriglyceridemia, 34.7% had low HDL-C, 55.6% had hypertension and 56.9% had elevated fasting blood sugar (FBS). 43.8% had diabetes and 13.2% had cardiovascular disease. The mean CMI was 2.51 ± 1.57. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 50.7%. Body mass index (BMI) was significantly associated with metabolic syndrome and CMI (P = 0.001). The severity of ED had a significant relationship with high FBS in patients. CMI and components of abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, and low HDL-C had no statistically significant relationship with ED. However, the incidence of moderate and severe ED increased with increasing the number of metabolic syndrome components. Conclusion: ED is not significantly associated with metabolic syndrome and CMI, however, the severity of this disorder increases with increasing the number of components of metabolic syndrome.