Urology Institute, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Int J Impot Res. 2023 Aug;35(5):484-489. doi: 10.1038/s41443-022-00586-0. Epub 2022 May 21.
Patients may turn to social media websites, such as Reddit, for information on erectile dysfunction prior to seeking care from a physician. We sought to identify, characterize, and assess the quality of the erectile dysfunction treatments discussed on the highly influential Reddit website. We assessed 2634 comments from two subreddits, r/AskMen and r/ErectileDysfunction, for positive and negative statements regarding treatments for erectile dysfunction. A total of 45 unique treatments were discussed and consisted of changes in sexual behavior (30%), lifestyle changes (29%), medical interventions (23%), talking with a partner about ED (10%), and use of supplements (8%). Only 24.4% of all treatments discussed are in line with current American Urological Association guidelines. Only 43.8% of all positive statements made endorsed a guidelines-based treatment, indicating a high rate of self-proclaimed success with alternative therapies. Our results indicate that there is active discussion of erectile dysfunction treatment on Reddit with a wide range of therapies recommended, however, the majority of the recommendations are not supported by strong clinical evidence.
患者在寻求医生治疗之前，可能会转向 Reddit 等社交媒体网站获取有关勃起功能障碍的信息。我们试图确定、描述和评估在极具影响力的 Reddit 网站上讨论的勃起功能障碍治疗方法的质量。我们评估了 r/AskMen 和 r/ErectileDysfunction 这两个子版块的 2634 条评论，内容涉及对勃起功能障碍治疗方法的积极和消极评价。总共讨论了 45 种独特的治疗方法，包括性行为改变（30%）、生活方式改变（29%）、医疗干预（23%）、与伴侣谈论 ED（10%）和使用补充剂（8%）。只有 24.4%的治疗方法符合当前美国泌尿外科学会的指南。所有积极评价中只有 43.8%支持基于指南的治疗方法，这表明替代疗法的自我宣称成功率很高。我们的研究结果表明，Reddit 上有关于勃起功能障碍治疗的活跃讨论，推荐了广泛的治疗方法，但大多数推荐都没有得到强有力的临床证据支持。
