The Impact of Motor, Non-Motor, and Social Aspects on the Sexual Health of Men Living with Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

Background: Sexual health (SH) is influenced by several biological, mental, and social factors that may be negatively impacted by Parkinson's disease (PD). Despite its prevalence and relevance for quality of life, the factors that affect SH in men with PD (MwPD) are still poorly understood. Objectives: To investigate the impact of motor, non-motor, and social aspects on the SH in MwPD. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 80 men (mean-age 53.55±10.8) in stages 1-3 of Hoehn and Yahr classification (HY), who reported having an active sex life in the last six months. The following data were collected for each person: 1) Demographic and clinical features; 2) global cognitive capacity (T-MoCA); 3) Non-Motor Aspects of Experiences of Daily Living (MDS-UPDRS, part I); 4) Motor Aspects of Experiences of Daily Living (MDS-UPDRS, part II); 5) Fatigue (FSS); 6) Self-esteem (RSES); 7) Sleep disorder (PDSS); 8) Couple relationship quality (DAS); 9) Depressive signals (BDI); 10) Short-term sexual health by International Index of Erectile Function (IIFE); and 11) Long-term sexual health by Sexual Quotient-Male (SQ-M). Results: Our results showed that although several motor, non-motor, and social factors were correlated with SH, only motor disability levels in daily living predicted short-term SH and erectile dysfunction, while only depression predicted long-term SH in MwPD. Age, disease onset, and medication daily dosage were not correlated with SH. Conclusions: Our findings confirm that multidimensional factors can affect the SH of MwPD and emphasize that only a multi-professional team can offer proper care to improve SH in MwPD.