Characteristics of Erectile Dysfunction as a Function of Medical Care System Entry Point
- 1 June 1981
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wolters Kluwer Health in Psychosomatic Medicine
- Vol. 43 (3), 227-234
- https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-198106000-00004
Abstract
The scientific literature on the treatment of penile erectile dysfunction contains numerous contradictory reports on the relative frequency of organic causes of impotence and the treatment results of behavioral sex therapy. One explanation for these contradictory findings is the hypothesis that different investigators are studying different subsamples of the symptomatic population. This study investigated differences in characteristics of men who initially consulted a urologist with a complaint of impotence vs. those who self-referred themselves to a sexual dysfunction clinic. Self-referred sexual dysfunction patients were more often white, more often had psychogenic etiologies to their difficulties, were more often of higher socioeconomic class and had a much better response to psychological interventions. Future studies concerning the etiology and treatment of impotence apparently need to specify population characteristics such as referral source and screening criteria. It may be necessary to develop alternative treatment techniques for men who present to nonpsychiatric sources for help with psychogenic impotence.This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit:
- Sexual Function in Diabetic PatientsAnnals of Internal Medicine, 1980
- Penile Blood Pressure in the Evaluation of Erectile ImpotenceFertility and Sterility, 1978
- The behavioural treatment of sexual inadequacy: A comparative studyBehaviour Research and Therapy, 1976