Williams G, Abbou C C, Amar E T, Desvaux P, Flam T A, Lycklama à Nijeholt G A, Lynch S F, Morgan R J, Müller S C, Porst H, Pryor J P, Ryan P, Witzsch U K, Hall M M, Place V A, Spivack A P, Todd L K, Gesundheit N
Service d'Urologie, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Creteil, France.
Br J Urol. 1998 Dec;82(6):847-54. doi: 10.1046/j.1464-410x.1998.00937.x.
To evaluate the impact of treatment for erectile dysfunction on the quality of life of men and their partners.
The study included 249 men with organic erectile dysfunction of more than 3 months' duration who self-administered transurethral alprostadil in an open-label, dose-escalating manner in an outpatient medical setting. Patients with a sufficient response (159) were randomly assigned in a double-blind protocol to either active medication or placebo for 3 months at home. Patients and partners each completed quality-of-life questionnaires before and after treatment.
In the clinic 159 of the 249 men (64%) had an erection sufficient for intercourse when using transurethral alprostadil. At home, 46 of 67 men (69%) reported intercourse at least once on transurethral alprostadil, compared with eight of 73 (11%) on placebo (P < 0.001). Patients on alprostadil showed a 34% improvement in their 'relationship with partner', a 5% improvement in 'personal wellness', and a 71% improvement in 'quality of erection' domains, compared with a decline of 11%, 8% and 1%, respectively, in patients on placebo (P < 0.005 for each comparison). Partners of patients on alprostadil showed a 35% improvement in the 'relationship with partner' domain, compared with a 12% improvement in the placebo group (P = 0.028). There was a trend toward improvement in other partner domains. Urogenital pain was reported by 14% of patients during home treatment.
The resumption of sexual intercourse with the use of transurethral alprostadil was accompanied by an improvement in several important quality-of-life domains in patients and their partners.
