Introduction: Erectile dysfunction (ED) can negatively impact psychosocial measures of a patient's sexual life.
Aim: To evaluate self-esteem, confidence, and relationships in men with ED, before and after treatment with sildenafil citrate (Viagra), with reference to controls without ED.
Methods: Sildenafil-naïve patients with ED were enrolled in a 10-week, open-label, flexible-dose (25 mg, 50 mg, or 100 mg) trial of sildenafil. In a separate study, men without ED who did not take sildenafil also completed the Self-Esteem And Relationship (SEAR) questionnaire. In addition to traditional statistical testing, equivalency testing was applied to compare the ED group, before and after treatment, with the control group and to examine whether the ED group improved to normative ranges on the SEAR questionnaire after treatment (within half a standard deviation of the normative or control group mean).
Main outcome measures: Baseline and end-of-treatment responses on psychosocial aspects of ED were measured with the validated SEAR.
Results: Mean SEAR scores between subjects with ED (N = 93, mean age 55.0 years) at baseline and control subjects without ED (N = 94, mean age 52.5 years) were statistically different from zero and not statistically equivalent. Conversely, mean SEAR scores between ED subjects after treatment and control subjects were statistically equivalent and not statistically different from zero.
Conclusions: The results indicate that sildenafil is associated with normalization of relationships, confidence, and self-esteem in men with ED.