Background: Recently, it is reported that erectile dysfunction (ED) is very prevalent among young males that has a great impact on patients' and their partners' sexual satisfaction. PDE5is and other more invasive options merely provide symptom relief rather than a permanent improvement of the condition, while the lasting improvement of low-intensity extracorporeal shockwave therapy (Li-ESWT) on ED has been confirmed. We aimed to compare treatment satisfaction rates in young men and their partners who received treatment for with sildenafil and Li-ESWT.
Methods: Patients complaining of ED during a consultation at our andrology and urology outpatient clinic between April 2019 and April 2020 were considered candidates for study. Participants choose to enter one of 2 active treatment groups according to their treatment intention after a 4-week washout period of past ED treatment, either 9-week Li-ESWT or 100mg on-demand sildenafil. The erectile function was evaluated by the erectile function domain of the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaires (IIEF-EF), while the treatment satisfaction in patients and their partners was evaluated by the Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction questionnaires (EDITS) of patient version and partner version respectively.
Results: 72 participants completed the study (42 in the Li-ESWT group and 30 in the sildenafil group). Patients in both groups are young men. 4-week after the last session, the score of IIEF-EF for Li-ESWT and sildenafil was 16.3± 5.5 and 18.3± 6.5 (P>0.05) respectively. The total EDITS index of patient version and partner version are similar in the two groups. Among EDITS questions measuring overall satisfaction and efficacy lasting time, the score was higher in the Li-ESWT group.
Conclusions: We found that Li-ESWT may have better satisfaction than on-demand sildenafil for young ED patients. However, Further studies are needed to determine the factors influencing satisfaction.
Trial registration: This is a non-randomized clinical trial, registered at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR, http://www.chictr.org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=36572&htm=4), number ChiCTR1900021685, date 05/03/2019.