Impaired quality of life and sexual function in overweight and obese men: the European Male Ageing Study.

BACKGROUND: Few published data link overweight and obesity with measures of quality of life (QoL) including sexual health in men.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association of overweight/obesity with impairment of physical and psychological QoL and sexual functions in men.

DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional, multicentre survey of 3369 community-dwelling men aged 40-79 (mean±s.d., 60±11) years randomly selected from eight European centres.

OUTCOMES: Adiposity was assessed by body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC), QoL and functional impairments by physical and psychological function domains of the Short Form-36 questionnaire, Beck's Depression Inventory and the European Male Ageing Study sexual function questionnaire.

RESULTS: Complete data on sexual activities and erectile function were available in 2734 (92%) and 3193 (95%) of the participants respectively. From the population studied, 814 men were obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m(2)) and 1171 had WC ≥102 cm, 25% of all men were unable to do vigorous activity and 2-13% reported depressive symptoms. Symptoms of sexual dysfunction ranged between 22% (low sexual desire) and 40% (infrequent morning erections) of the participants. Among obese men with both BMI ≥30 kg/m(2) and WC ≥102 cm, at least one symptom of impaired physical, psychological and sexual function was reported by 41, 43 and 73% of the participants respectively. Compared with the reference group of non-obese men (BMI <30 kg/m(2) and WC <102 cm), men with BMI ≥30 kg/m(2) and WC ≥102 cm more frequently reported at least one symptom of impaired physical function (odds ratio (OR)=2.67; confidence interval (CI): 2.07-3.45, P<0.001), impaired psychological function (OR=1.48; CI: 1.14-1.90, P<0.01) and impaired sexual function (OR=1.45; CI: 1.14-1.85, P<0.01). These functional impairments were also more prevalent in men who had WC ≥102 cm even with BMI <30 kg/m(2), but those with BMI ≥30 kg/m(2) and WC <102 cm generally did not suffer from increased impaired physical or sexual health. Men with high BMI and WC were at even greater likelihood of having a composite of two or more or three or more symptoms compared with those with normal BMI and WC.

CONCLUSIONS: Men with high WC, including those who are 'non-obese' with BMI <30 kg/m(2), have poor QoL with symptoms of impaired physical, psychological and sexual functions. Health promotion to improve QoL should focus on prevention of obesity and central fat accumulation.