Newly diagnosed panic disorder and the risk of erectile dysfunction: A population-based cohort study in Taiwan

• We identified 1393 male patients with panic disorder from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Database.
• Panic disorder patients had a two-fold higher risk for a diagnosis of erectile dysfunction than controls.
• Panic disorder patients not receiving antidepressant treatment may have the highest risk of developing erectile dysfunction.

Previous studies indicated that panic disorder is correlated with erectile dysfunction (ED). The primary aim of this study was to explore the incidence rate of ED among panic disorder patients in an Asian country. The secondary aim was to compare the risk of ED in panic disorder patients that were treated with different kinds of antidepressants, and to explore the possible mechanism between these two disorders. We identified 1393 male patients with newly diagnosed panic disorder from the Taiwan's National Health Insurance Database. Four matched controls per case were selected for the study group by propensity score. After adjusting for age, obesity and comorbidities, the panic disorder patients had a higher hazard ratio of ED diagnosis than the controls, especially among the untreated panic disorder patients. This retrospective dynamic cohort study supports the link between ED and prior panic disorder in a large sample of panic disorder patients. This study points out the need of early antidepressant treatment for panic disorder to prevent further ED.