This study aims to investigate whether clinical and biological preoperative characteristics of patients who were to undergo radical prostatectomy were associated with impairment in patient-reported quality of life (QoL) and erectile dysfunction immediately before intervention. We evaluated patient-reported outcomes among 1019 patients (out of 1343) of the AndroCan study, willing to score the Aging Male Symptom (AMS) and the International Index of Erectile Function 5-item (IIEF-5) auto-questionnaires. Univariate linear regression and robust multiple regression were used to ascertain the relationship between demographic, clinical, and hormonal parameters and global AMS or IIEF-5 scores. As a result, most patients (85.1') of the Androcan cohort agreed to complete questionnaires. Significantly higher IIEF-5 global scores were found in non-Caucasian and obese patients, with larger waist circumference, metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, high blood sugar, concomitant medications, and hypogonadism, while the AMS global score was significantly higher in patients with larger waist circumference, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, raised glycemia, and concomitant medication. The IIEF-5 global score was correlated to age, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), fat mass percentage, and androstenediol (D5). The AMS global score was significantly correlated to DHEA, D5, and DHEA sulfate. Finally, the multivariate models showed that QoL and erectile function were significantly affected, before surgery, by symptoms and signs that are usually considered as pertaining to the metabolic syndrome, while sexual hormones are essentially correlated to erectile dysfunction.

Keywords: erectile function; metabolic syndrome; quality of life; radical prostatectomy; testosterone

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