Erectile Dysfunction in Male Ebola Virus Disease Survivors in Western Sierra Leone a Health Facility Based Descriptive - Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: A normal sexual function requires intact neurological and vascular systems and their coordinated complex interactions. Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) is presumed to cause ED via both neurogenic and vasculogenic pathways. EVD survivors suffer a variety of complications including reduced libido (sexual dysfunction). The prevalence of Erectile Dysfunction (ED) is unknown among male EVD survivors, partly because 85% of men with ED are quiet about it. Setting: The Hospitals and the public health facilities in Western Sierra Leone that registered and cared for the EVD survivors. Objective: To establish the currency (prevalence), characteristics and management options of ED among male EVD survivors in Western Sierra Leone. Methodology: This was a Health facility base descriptive Cross-sectional study that interviewed male EVD survivors, by using the IIEF-5 Scores questionnaire, taking their sexual history, screening them for DM, HIV and Hepatitis B, and by clinically examining them to identify the magnitude of the ED, if any, and to recommend specialist care. A total of 400 male EVD survivors were consecutively sampled and the resulting data was uploaded into an excel sheet for analysis using SPSS version 21. The eligibility criteria for inclusion of these subjects were male EVD survivors aged 15-49yrs, who were either laboratory-confirmed or the undiagnosed EVD survivors (whose serum showed EVD antibodies later after surviving) and carried discharge certificates from Ebola Treatment Centres. xiii Results: The mean age of the 400 participants studied, was 31.1yrs. Most of the EVD survivors studied were within the age of 25-29yrs (20%); most were married (55.5%), but of low-socio-economic status (58.5%), 41.5% had no formal education, non-smokers (73.5%) and non-alcoholics (82.5%). 54.5%(218) of them had ED. Of those who had ED, 31.2% (68) had mild ED, 45.0% (98) had mild-to-moderate ED, 19.7% (43) had moderate ED and 4.1%(9) had severe ED. Of those who had ED 52.3% (114) used no therapy, 46.3% (101) used drug therapy and only 1.4% (3) of them used sex therapy for their ED Conclusions: Age in Years and marital status significantly explained the Presence of ED among the Men, with every increase in an additional year in age, the likelihood of developing ED increased by about 0.9 points (p-value<0.001) while compared to single men, married and cohabiting men significantly explained the ED (p-value 0.007 & 0.023) respectively.