Medications Most Commonly Associated with Erectile Dysfunction: Evaluation of the Food and Drug Administration National Pharmacovigilance Database

April 2022

Elie Kaplan-Marans, Mariela Martinez, Arshia Sandozi, Jeffrey E. Lee, Jacob B. Khurgin, Ariel Schulman

5-alpha reductase inhibitors 5-ARIs finasteride dutasteride Propecia Avodart

TLDR Certain medications, especially 5-alpha reductase inhibitors, are commonly linked to erectile dysfunction.

The study utilized the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) to identify medications most frequently associated with erectile dysfunction (ED) from 2010-2020, excluding treatments for ED like phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors and testosterone. Among the top 20 medications, 5-alpha reductase inhibitors (5-ARIs) had the highest frequency of ED reports, with 2,823 out of 6,142 total reports (46%). Finasteride and dutasteride showed the highest proportional reporting ratios (PRRs) of 110.03 and 9.40, respectively. Other medications associated with ED spanned various medical fields, including psychiatry, neurology, cardiology, dermatology, and immunology. The findings highlight the importance for physicians and patients to be aware of medications that may cause ED.

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Medications Most Commonly Associated with Erectile Dysfunction: Evaluation of the Food and Drug Administration National Pharmacovigilance Database

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