IMR Press / JOMH / Volume 17 / Issue 3 / DOI: 10.31083/jomh.2021.034
Open Access Original Research
The impact of Peyronie’s disease on Portuguese men’s mental health and sexual functioning
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1 Department of Psychology and Education, Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Beira Interior, 6200-209 Covilhã, Portugal
2 The Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development (CIDESD), 5000-471 Vila Real, Portugal
*Correspondence: hpereira@ubi.pt (Henrique Pereira)
J. Mens. Health 2021, 17(3), 54–59; https://doi.org/10.31083/jomh.2021.034
Submitted: 29 January 2021 | Accepted: 4 March 2021 | Published: 8 July 2021
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of Peyronie’s disease (PD) on Portuguese men’s mental health and sexual functioning.

Materials and Methods: Study participants included 103 men diagnosed with PD who had attended urology appointments at two hospitals in Portugal. The participants’ average age was 34.38 years old (SD = 13.77). The study utilized a variety of measurement instruments, encompassing a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Portuguese version of the Brief Symptoms Inventory-18, the Portuguese version of the Massachusetts General Hospital-Sexual Functioning Questionnaire, and a Questionnaire measuring PD concerns.

Results: Overall results showed that the men surveyed presented higher levels of mental health symptoms (somatization, depression, and anxiety) and lower levels of sexual functioning than the community sample (the general Portuguese population without clinical disorders). Correlation coefficients showed a strong and positive correlation between mental health symptoms and a loss of sexual confidence and stress, while finding a strong and negative correlation between sexual functioning and stress. Most PD concerns exhibited strong and positive mutual correlations. The study also found strong and positive correlations between penile curvature and a perceived reduction in penis attractiveness and discrimination fears. Multiple regression analyses showed that PD concerns and penile curvature explained 34.3% of the overall mental health variance and 21% of the overall sexual functioning variance.

Conclusions: These results are consistent with those of previous studies that have shown that experiencing PD can increase mental health symptoms and diminish sexual functioning.

Keywords
Peyronie's disease
Mental health
Sexual functioning
Portuguese men
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