Erectile dysfunction is common among older men and has been associated with low serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D concentration. However, this association may be due to uncontrolled confounding, and there is a paucity of evidence from interventional studies. We aimed to examine the effect of vitamin D supplementation on the prevalence of erectile dysfunction, in an exploratory analysis using data from a large randomized controlled trial.
The D-Health Trial recruited Australians aged 60-84 years between January 2014 and May 2015 and randomly assigned them to supplementation with 60,000 IU of vitamin D or placebo per month for up to 5 years. Blood samples were collected annually from randomly selected participants (total N = 3943). We assessed erectile dysfunction at the end of the third year of follow-up. We used log-binomial regression to examine the effect of vitamin D on the prevalence of erectile dysfunction overall, and within sub-groups.
Of the 11,530 men enrolled, 8920 (77.4 %) completed the erectile dysfunction question and were included in the analysis. After three years of supplementation, the mean serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D concentration was 76 nmol/L (standard deviation (SD) 24.94) in the placebo group and 106 nmol/L (SD 26.76) in the vitamin D group (p < 0.0001). The prevalence of erectile dysfunction was 58.8 % and 59.0 % in the vitamin D and placebo groups, respectively (prevalence ratio 1.00, 95 % CI 0.97, 1.03); there was no evidence of an effect of vitamin D in any subgroup analyses.
Supplementing older men with vitamin D is unlikely to prevent or improve erectile dysfunction.
(ACTRN12613000743763).
Clinical nutrition ESPEN. 2024 Jan 18 [Epub]
Briony Duarte Romero, Mary Waterhouse, Catherine Baxter, Donald S A McLeod, Dallas R English, Bruce K Armstrong, Eric Chung, Peter R Ebeling, Gunter Hartel, Jolieke C van der Pols, Matthew Roberts, Alison J Venn, Penelope M Webb, David C Whiteman, Rachel E Neale
Population Health Department, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia., Population Health Department, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia; Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia., Melbourne School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, Cancer Epidemiology and Intelligence Division, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Australia., School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia., University of Queensland, Department of Urology, Princess Alexadra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia; AndroUrology Centre, Brisbane, Australia., Department of Medicine, School of Clinical Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia., Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Faculty of Health, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Brisbane, Australia., Department of Urology, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Brisbane, Australia; University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, Faculty of Medicine, Brisbane, Australia., Menzies Institute for Medical Research, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia., Population Health Department, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia; School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia., Population Health Department, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Australia; School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. Electronic address: .