Investigating self-reported efficacy of lifestyle medicine approaches to tackle erectile dysfunction: a cross-sectional eSurvey based study

BMC Urology

Research

David Mummery¹  Gabriele Kerr¹  Austen El-Osta¹  Eva Riboli Sasco¹  Aos Alaa¹  Marie Line El Asmar¹  Iman Webber¹  Manisha Karki¹  Wolf-D. Beecken²  Giordano Blume² 

[1]Self-Care Academic Research Unit (SCARU), Department of Primary Care and Public Health, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, 323 Reynolds Building, Charing Cross Hospital, St Dunstan’s Road, W6 8RP, London, UK

[2]UroGate Praxisnetzwerk, Berliner Platz 2, 61476, Kronberg, Germany

关键词: Erectile dysfunction;    Lifestyle medicine;    Digital health;    Behaviour change;    Self-care;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12894-023-01180-2

 received in 2022-08-03, accepted in 2023-01-27,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundErectile dysfunction (ED) is the most common sexual dysfunction in men. Some types of ED are amenable to treatment using lifestyle medicine approaches with or without pharmacotherapy.AimInvestigate self-reported efficacy of lifestyle medicine approaches to tackle ED.MethodsA cross-sectional online survey of 1177 community dwelling adults explored the prevalence and methods used to tackle ED in the community setting. We examined differences between participants with and without ED. Variables associated with ED in univariable analyses were included in a multivariable logistic regression to identify variables independently associated with the condition.OutcomesSelf-reported measure: perceived effectiveness of lifestyle medicine interventions to tackle ED.ResultsMost respondents (76.5%) had experienced ED, and this was associated with having a long-term condition, taking anti-hypertensive medication, hypercholesterolaemia and obesity. Medication was the most common management strategy overall (65.9%), followed by stress management (43.5%) and weight loss (40.4%). Over half (53.9%) did not use any lifestyle modification strategies to tackle ED. Only 7.0% of ED sufferers received a mental health assessment and 29.2% received other tests (e.g., blood test, medical imaging) by GPs. Cardiovascular training was identified as the best rated strategy by its users (37.8%). Supplements (35.1%) and weight training/physical activity (32.6%) were also positively rated.Clinical implicationsStructured education to general practitioners and community dwelling adults about the impact of lifestyle behaviour modification and how this could influence the appearance or trajectory of ED could help improve personal choice when tackling ED.Strengths and limitationsTo our knowledge, this is the first study to collect eSurvey responses from community dwelling adults to gauge their reliance and perceived effectiveness of lifestyle medicine approaches to tackle ED. The principal limitation was the lack of follow-up, and not recording other information including lifestyle factors such as nutrition, smoking, and the use of alcohol and recreational drugs, which may have enabled a fuller exploration of the factors that could influence the primary outcome measures examined.ConclusionDespite the high prevalence of ED, there is not enough awareness in the community setting about effective and low-cost lifestyle medicine strategies, including cardiovascular training and the use of supplements and weight training, to help tackle this common condition.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023