TITLE:
Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Patients with Erectile Dysfunction at Idrissa Pouye General Hospital, Dakar, Senegal
AUTHORS:
Ngoné Diaba Gaye, Joseph Salvador Mingou, Cordélia Roberta Tèlé Ablanvi da Silveira, Malick Ndiaye, Marguerite Tening Diouf, Lamine Ly, Seydina Oumar Gueye, Mamadou Adama Thiam, Alassane Mbaye, Abdoul Kane, Aliou Alassane Ngaïdé
KEYWORDS:
Erectile Dysfunction, Cardiovascular Risk, Hypertension, Framingham Score, Senegal
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases,
Vol.16 No.8,
August
26,
2026
ABSTRACT: Introduction: Beyond its impact on quality of life, erectile dysfunction (ED) is now considered a potential clinical marker of cardiovascular disease because of shared mechanisms such as endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidaemia, smoking and obesity. The objectives of this study were to assess cardiovascular risk in patients with erectile dysfunction, evaluate ED severity and analyse the relationship between ED severity and cardiovascular risk. Methods: This was a prospective, descriptive and analytical study conducted from 1 March to 30 June 2019 in the Urology and Cardiology Departments of Idrissa Pouye General Hospital in Dakar. Men aged at least 40 years who consulted for ED, met the IIEF-5 criteria and provided oral informed consent were included. Patients with post-traumatic or iatrogenic ED, congenital malformations of the external male genitalia or loss of autonomy were not included. Patients underwent history taking, clinical examination, electrocardiography, transthoracic echocardiography and laboratory testing. ED severity was classified using IIEF-5 scores as severe (5 - 10), moderate (11 - 15) or mild (16 - 20). Framingham 10-year general cardiovascular risk was calculated in 48 patients with the required laboratory data and categorized as low (Results: A total of 50 men were included. Mean age was 57 ± 10 years, with a range from 40 to 78 years. The 60 - 69-year age group accounted for 42% of cases. Married patients represented 92%, and 80% had a middle socioeconomic level. ED was moderate in 52%, severe in 26% and mild in 22%. Cardiovascular risk factors were frequent: age ≥ 50 years in 76%, hypertension in 58%, dyslipidaemia in 48%, smoking in 36%, diabetes in 28%, physical inactivity in 26% and abdominal obesity in 22.9%. Among the 48 patients with complete data for Framingham scoring, 50.0% were at high cardiovascular risk, 16.7% at moderate risk and 33.3% at low risk. Among the same 48 patients with complete cardiovascular-risk-factor data, 30 (62.5%) had at least three risk factors and 18 (37.5%) had fewer than three. Advanced age (p = 0.024) and the presence of at least three cardiovascular risk factors (p = 0.017) were significantly associated with more severe ED. Conclusion: Erectile dysfunction was frequently associated with an unfavourable cardiovascular risk profile in this study. These cross-sectional associations support systematic cardiovascular risk assessment in men consulting for ED but do not establish that ED predicts subsequent cardiovascular events.