Table 1. Baseline characteristics of cohort members^a (total N = 691,268).

Exposed to 5α-RI drugs vs unexposed. Men exposed to 5α-RIs differed from men unexposed to 5α-RIs for several characteristics relevant to the frequency or to the detection of sexual dysfunction. Notably, exposed men had more years in the cohort (i.e., longer duration of time represented in the medical record). Men exposed to finasteride ≤1.25 mg daily were younger and were less likely to have prostate disease than men exposed to finasteride >1.25 mg daily or exposed to dutasteride.

Characteristic	Cohort
	Unexposed (N = 673,793)			Finasteride ≤1.25 mg (N = 7,419)			Finasteride >1.25 mg (N = 7,187)			Dutasteride (N = 1,921)			All exposed (N = 17,475)
Mean year of cohort entry	2005 ± 6.00			2006 ± 5.42			2004 ± 6.93			2005 ± 7.04			2005 ± 6.42
Median year of cohort entry	2006			2006			2004			2007			2005
Median age at cohort entry	38.9			30.4			63.8			64.3			51.0
IQR of age at cohort entry	28.7–53.6			26.2–36.8			53.6–71.5			56.2–72.4			30.8–66.3
Median years in cohort (IQR)	0.9 (0.0–5.6)			6.1 (2.1–11.3)			8.5 (2.2–14.6)			5.4 (1.2–13.0)			7.1 (2.1–13.1)
Attribute	N	%		N	%		N	%		N	%		N	%
Use of prescription NSAIDb	180,375	26.8		2,604	35.1		5,037	70.1		1,346	70.1		9,759	55.8
Hypertensionc	117,585	17.5		945	12.7		4,285	59.6		1,035	53.9		6,942	39.7
Smokingc	111,798	16.6		1,336	18.0		3,033	42.2		798	41.5		5,663	32.4
Vascular diseasec	88,752	13.2		538	7.3		3,644	50.7		835	43.5		5,623	32.2
Use of diuretic drugb	60,680	9.0		418	5.6		3,074	42.8		726	37.8		4,696	26.9
Diabetes mellitusc	45,431	6.7		150	2.0		1,599	22.2		352	18.3		2,348	13.4
Use of SSRI drugb	35,570	5.3		966	13.0		1,183	16.5		269	14.0		2,614	15.0
Depressionc	34,586	5.1		673	9.1		1,070	14.9		195	10.2		2,101	12.0
Diagnosis of alcoholismc	31,310	4.6		186	2.5		264	3.7		36	1.9		535	3.1
Diagnosis of obesityc	30,069	4.5		365	4.9		797	11.1		188	9.8		1,504	8.6
Prostate diseasec	24,936	3.7		181	2.4		4,438	61.8		940	48.9		6,349	36.3
Prostate cancerc	18,207	2.7		57	0.8		770	10.7		187	9.7		1,155	6.6
Use of cyclovir drugb	17,850	2.6		673	9.1		591	8.2		113	5.9		1,468	8.4
History of prostate surgeryd	13,096	1.9		65	0.9		1,428	19.9		291	15.1		2,073	11.9
HSVc	6,647	1.0		327	4.4		169	2.4		25	1.3		543	3.1
Alopeciac	2,938	0.4		3,078	41.5		457	6.4		9	0.5		3,574	20.5
Peyronie’s diseasec	840	0.1		41	0.6		47	0.7		18	0.9		111	0.6
	Unexposed			Finasteride ≤1.25 mg			Finasteride >1.25 mg			Dutasteride			All exposed
Attributee	N	Median	IQR	N	Median	IQR	N	Median	IQR	N	Median	IQR	N	Median	IQR
Body mass index	335,057	26.9	24.3–30.4	6,503	25.8	24.0–28.1	6,762	26.9	24.4–30.2	1,732	27.6	24.9–30.8	15,933	26.4	24.3–29.3
Triglycerides	177,526	100.0	69.0–149.0	4,535	88.0	63.0–127.0	4,057	95.5	68.0–136.0	792	99.0	73.0–141.1	10,009	92.0	66.0–132.0
LDL cholesterol	154,340	107.0	85.0–129.5	4,384	112.0	93.0–132.0	3,722	88.0	69.0–112.0	737	90.0	70.0–113.0	9,437	100.0	78.0–123.0
Magnesium	117,488	2.0	1.9–2.1	763	2.0	1.9–2.2	3,677	2.0	1.9–2.1	741	2.0	1.9–2.1	5,824	2.0	1.9–2.1
Hemoglobin A1c	48,722	5.6	5.3–6.4	786	5.3	5.1–5.6	1,862	5.8	5.5–6.5	412	5.8	5.4–6.5	3,396	5.7	5.3–6.3

Notes:

^aSelection criteria for cohort: all men with at least one diagnosis in the medical record and between 16 and 89 years old as of their last encounter.

^bBased on prescription data in the electronic medical record.

^cBased on ICD-9 codes in the electronic medical record.

^dBased on ICD-9 procedure codes, AMA current procedural terminology (CPT) codes, and institution-specific billing codes.

^eValue for each individual is the median of all values in the electronic medical record.