relationship between prostate cancer and sexual activity: a casecontrol study

Background: prostate cancer is the fourth most prevalent cancer in the world with both environmental and genetic risk factors. recently, the role of sexual activity (in terms of period and frequency) has been considered as a possible risk factor. methods: a total of 120 patients participated in the present case-control study, 59 with prostate cancer and 61 with other urologic conditions, in shahid beheshti hospital of hamadan, iran, in 2016. a researcher-designed questionnaire was used to collect required information such as participants' sexual habits. finally, data were analyzed using spss software 16 (spss inc., chicago, il, usa). results: mean sexual activity (per week) for the past 5-10 years was 1.8±1.02 and 1.6±0.22 in case and control group, respectively (p=0.2). mean sexual activity (per week) one year prior to diagnosis of the disease was also 1.3±1.10 and 1.1±1.03 in cases versus in the controls (p=0.45). in 71-80 years and >80 years age group, sexual activity (days per week) in 5-10 years before diagnosis was significantly higher in cases compared with in control group (p=0.005 and p=0.03, respectively). in <60 years age group, participants' sexual activity in 5-10 years before diagnosis was significantly higher in controls as compared with case group (p=0.03). also, sexual activity (days per week) at age 71-80 years in one year before diagnosis was significantly higher in case group compared with that of the control group (p=0.001). conclusion: according to the results, it seems there is no clear relationship between sexual activity and prostate cancer, but the results indicated different impacts of sexual activity in different ages in patients with prostate cancer.