Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

The Effect of Musculoskeletal Pain on Sexual Function in Middle-aged and Elderly European Men: Results from the European Male Ageing Study.

Tajar, Abdelouahid ; O'Neill, Terence W ; Lee, David M ; O'Connor, Daryl B ; Corona, Giovanni ; Finn, Joseph D ; Bartfai, Gyorgy ; Boonen, Steven ; Casanueva, Felipe F and Forti, Gianni , et al. (2011) In Journal of Rheumatology 38. p.370-377
Abstract
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... (More)
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. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of Rheumatology
volume
38
pages
370 - 377
publisher
Journal of Rheumatology Publishing Company Limited
external identifiers
  • wos:000287173000029
  • pmid:21159833
  • scopus:79551719115
ISSN
0315-162X
DOI
10.3899/jrheum.100604
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f486c792-6e92-442c-8427-c9c26b05c127 (old id 1756317)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21159833?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 08:16:02
date last changed
2022-05-09 01:42:27
@article{f486c792-6e92-442c-8427-c9c26b05c127,
  abstract     = {{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.}},
  author       = {{Tajar, Abdelouahid and O'Neill, Terence W and Lee, David M and O'Connor, Daryl B and Corona, Giovanni and Finn, Joseph D and Bartfai, Gyorgy and Boonen, Steven and Casanueva, Felipe F and Forti, Gianni and Giwercman, Aleksander and Han, Thang S and Huhtaniemi, Ilpo T and Kula, Krzysztof and Lean, Michael E J and Pendleton, Neil and Punab, Margus and Purandare, Nitin and Silman, Alan J and Vanderschueren, Dirk and Wu, Frederick C W and McBeth, John}},
  issn         = {{0315-162X}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{370--377}},
  publisher    = {{Journal of Rheumatology Publishing Company Limited}},
  series       = {{Journal of Rheumatology}},
  title        = {{The Effect of Musculoskeletal Pain on Sexual Function in Middle-aged and Elderly European Men: Results from the European Male Ageing Study.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3899/jrheum.100604}},
  doi          = {{10.3899/jrheum.100604}},
  volume       = {{38}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}