Male Sexual DysfunctionHorseback Riding: Impact on Sexual Dysfunction and Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms in Men and Women
Section snippets
Material and Methods
The Institutional Review Board at the University of California, San Diego approved this study. We implemented a cross-sectional study design as an efficient and cost-effective design to perform a preliminary exploration for an association with the potential to generate additional hypotheses for more structured research.
Epidemiologic surveys were distributed to adult members of equestrian clubs and swimming clubs from 10/98 until 3/01. We distributed 327 surveys by hand at horse shows and pools
Descriptive Statistics
Our study group included 110 males (31 equestrians and 79 swimmers) and 275 females (173 equestrians and 102 swimmers). Sufficient subjects (at least 5 per variable) were available to perform a multivariate analysis controlling for a large number of variables in each case. The mean age for male horse riders was 52.9 years, and for female horse riders was 40.3 years. The mean age for male swimmers was 43.5 years, and for female swimmers was 38.7 years.
Of the male subjects, 5 (4.5%) were affected
Comments
We present a cross-sectional survey–based study of the effect of perineal impact sports on genitourinary function in males and females. Our study is unique because, to our knowledge, it is the first to study a high-impact perineal sport (equestrians) using a low-impact perineal sport (swimming) as a control, evaluating both sexual and urinary parameters in men and women.
Horseback riding was not associated with an increased incidence of sexual dysfunction in males. Age was the only factor that
Conclusions
Horseback riding has no measurable effect on lower urinary tract symptoms or sexual functioning in men or women. Equestrian sports may decrease the risk of urinary incontinence in women. Hardness of bicycle seats and years of bicycling may affect the prevalence of lower urinary tract symptoms in women.
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