Introduction: Although heavily investigated over the last decades, Peyronie's disease (PD) pathogenesis remains unclear.
Aim: We sought to investigate the association between PD and autoimmune diseases (ADs) in men seeking medical help for sexual dysfunction in the real-life setting.
Methods: Complete sociodemographic and clinical data from a homogenous cohort of 1,140 consecutive Caucasian-European men were analyzed. Health-significant comorbidities were scored with the Charlson Comorbidity Index and ADs were stratified according to International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision classification.
Main outcome measures: Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression models tested the association between ADs and PD.
Results: PD was diagnosed in 148 (13%) of the 1,140 men; of PD patients, 14 (9.5%) had a comorbid AD; conversely, the rate of ADs in non-PD patients was significantly lower (χ(2) = 24.7; P < 0.01). Both patient age and AD comorbidity achieved multivariable independent predictor status for PD (odds ratio [OR]: 1.05; P < 0.01 and OR: 4.90; P < 0.01, respectively).
Conclusions: Our observational findings showed that ADs are highly comorbid with PD in a large cohort of same-race individuals seeking medical help for sexual dysfunction in the real-life setting.
Keywords: Autoimmune Disease; Peyronie's Disease; Psoriasis; Sexual Dysfunction.
© 2015 International Society for Sexual Medicine.