Exploring the relationship between socioeconomic status and erectile dysfunction: an analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between socioeconomic status and erectile dysfunction. Data were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative survey of the United States population. Socioeconomic status was estimated using the poverty income ratio, a ratio of family income to established poverty levels. Erectile function was assessed from a single survey question and was divided into two groups: normal (always and usually able to maintain an erection) and erectile dysfunction (sometimes or never able to maintain an erection). Multivariable logistic regression, using a multi-model approach, was used to characterize the interplay between well-established risk factors for erectile dysfunction and socioeconomic status. Our final cohort included 3679 respondents, representative of 81,255,155 subjects with a mean age of 44.4 [SE, 0.365]. Multivariable logistic regression showed that low-income respondents were significantly more likely to report erectile dysfunction [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.95, 95% CI 1.28–2.96; p = 0.003] compared to higher-income respondents. This study suggests that low socioeconomic status may be associated with erectile dysfunction in a large, nationally representative sample.