Experiencing erectile dysfunction (ED) can be disheartening in its own right, but new researcher indicates that it may also reduce productivity at work.
The researchers looked at questionnaire data from 52,697 men between 40 and 70 in the U.S., UK and six other countries. They asked questions about:
- Erectile dysfunction over the past 6 months
- Age
- Income
- Employment
- Marital status
- Education level
- General health
- BMI
- Smoking
- Alcohol consumption
- Other health issues
- Quality of care
The men were also asked about work productivity, including absenteeism and working despite impairment from illness (“work presenteeism”).
The results? Throughout all eight countries, erectile dysfunction affected 49.7% of the men.
The quality of life scores were lower for men with erectile dysfunction across all eight countries.
Controlling for other factors
It’s important to point out that some of the above-mentioned variables also have the potential to reduce work productivity, so that had to be accounted for in the analysis.
In addition, men with erectile dysfunction were more apt to be smokers, drinkers and obese, and less likely to exercise.
“After controlling for covariates, men with ED (vs. no ED) had significantly greater impairment in the U.S. (2.11 times as much overall work productivity impairment),” explain the authors. “Absenteeism, presenteeism overall work productivity loss, and activity impairment were more than two-fold higher in men with ED than me with no ED.”
Study limitations
There are some things to consider before assuming everything about this study is proof positive that ED causes a drop in work productivity.
First, this was a self-assessed questionnaire about ED, not a medical classification and diagnosis.
Second, some of the men could be misreporting (intentionally or unintentionally) how much time they’ve missed or taken off work.
Finally, this study was supported by Pfizer, the company that makes Viagra, so it has an invested interest in showing that ED is a big problem for men around the world.
