Medication strategies regarding erectile dysfunction and associated treatment drop out and compliance – A retrospective study of 516 patients

Objectives The pharmacological treatment of Erectile Dysfunction (ED) includes oral or local administration. Despite documented effect of the pharmacological treatment of ED, several studies indicate that a large proportion of patients drop out of treatment. This retrospective systematic descriptive study aims to investigate factors associated with treatment outcome and the pattern for use of medications in 516 Danish patients at a large Sexological Center at a University Hospital in Denmark. Material and methods Comparisons of demographics, cause of problem, comorbidities, and information regarding course of treatment were performed between patients who were medicated at treatment termination and patients who discontinued their treatment. Furthermore, the same comparisons were made between the patients treated orally and patients treated with a local acting medicine at discharge. Results and conclusion Two hundred and fifty-one (48.6%) patients ended with a pharmacological treatment, whereas 265 (51.4%) patients ended as discontinued. Possible explanations for why the patients discontinued could be non-effectiveness, psychosocial factors, costs of treatment, or several other reasons, but to elucidate this further investigation has to be made.