Evaluation of therapeutic efficacy in psychogenic impotence by means of logarithmic scoring.
In an attempt to develop as objective a method for the evaluation of impotence as possible, the authors assigned numerical values to four parameters considered essential to sexual function, namely, libido, erection, ejaculation, and orgasm, and used the sum totals of these scores, collected before and after initiation of therapy, as indicators of overall sexual function. Numerical values were assigned according to a logarithmic scale, in four stages from 0 to 10, i.e., 0, 1, 3, and 10; a score of 0 signified "normal" and a score of 10, "abnormal." By comparing sum totals of scores computed before and after initiation of therapy, the authors were able to evaluate therapeutic efficacy on the basis of changes in these sum totals. Using this method, the mean total score for a control group of 24 normal subjects was 1.67 +/- 0.26 (mean +/- standard error). For the test group, which consisted of 24 patients of psychogenic impotence, the mean total score prior to initiation of therapy was 16.46 +/- 3.55, an extremely high score in comparison with the control group. After four weeks of therapy, the mean total score dropped to 9.37 +/- 1.77, indicating a statistically significant (p less than 0.05) decrease over the pre-therapy mean total score.
D000328:Adult; D004542:Ejaculation; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007248:Infertility, Male; D007989:Libido; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009948:Orgasm; D010410:Penile Erection; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires