Journal Article

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

Karki, Manisha, Webber, Iman, Kerr, Gabriele, El-Osta, Austen, Riboli Sasco, Eva, Mummery, David, El Asmar, Marie Line, Blume, Giordano, Alaa, Aos, Beecken, Wolf-D.

2023

Overview

Background Erectile 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. Aim Investigate self-reported efficacy of lifestyle medicine approaches to tackle ED. Methods A 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. Outcomes Self-reported measure: perceived effectiveness of lifestyle medicine interventions to tackle ED. Results Most 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 implications Structured 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 limitations To 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. Conclusion Despite 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. Plain English summary Erectile dysfunction (ED) is the most common sexual dysfunction in men. Some types of ED can be treated using lifestyle medicine approaches with or without the use of medicines. The aim of this study was to investigate self-reported efficacy of lifestyle medicine approaches to tackle ED. We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of 1177 community dwelling adults to explore the prevalence, methods and perceived effectiveness of lifestyle medicine approaches to tackle ED in the community setting. Most respondents (76.5%) had experienced ED, and this was associated with having a long-term condition, taking anti-hypertensive medication, high blood cholesterol and obesity. After medication stress management (43.5%) and weight loss (40.4%) were most frequently cited lifestyle medicine intervention. Cardiovascular training was identified as the best rated strategy by its users (37.8%). To 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. Despite 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. Key points We surveyed 1177 community dwelling adults to explore the use of lifestyle medicine approaches to tackle ED. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression was used to explore the association of ED with health and lifestyle factors. We collected data on how ED was addressed in general practice and to identify the best rated strategy to tackle the condition. A key limitation was lack of follow-up using personal interview component to explore individual drivers and barriers for the routine adoption of lifestyle behaviour modification to tackle ED. Structured education about the impact of lifestyle behaviour modification and how this could influence the appearance or trajectory of ED could help improve personal choice.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adult / Alcohol / Antihypertensives / Behavior modification / Behaviour change / Blood / Body weight loss / Cross-Sectional Studies / Diabetes / Digital health / Drug therapy / Erectile dysfunction / Erectile Dysfunction - epidemiology / Erectile Dysfunction - therapy / Gastrointestinal surgery / Humans / Hypercholesterolemia / Hyperlipidemia / Hypertension / Impotence / Internal Medicine / Intervention / Life Style / Lifestyle medicine / Lifestyles / Male / Medical examination / Medical imaging equipment / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Metabolism / Methods / Obesity / Penis / Personal computers / Physical activity / Physical training / Polls & surveys / Quality of life / Recreational drugs / Self Report / Self-care / Smartphones / Social networks / Strategic planning (Business) / Surveys / Trauma / Urology / Weight control / Weightlifting