title: The challenges of diagnosing erectile dysfunction in the primary care setting.
abstract: Erectile dysfunction is present in approximately half of all men between the ages of 40 and 70. Patients are often reluctant to discuss this problem with their practitioner; therefore, unless the practitioner is able to initiate the discussion, the diagnosis will not be made and successful treatment will not be started. Primary care practitioners have previously received little training in taking the sexual history of their patients. In addition, primary care practitioners are under increasing pressure to see more and more patients in less and less time. Erectile dysfunction is a condition that is relatively easy to diagnose using history, physical examination, and laboratory tests at the disposal of the primary care practitioner. Although referral to an urologist may be necessary, most patients can be successfully treated in the primary care setting.
authors.affiliation: Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Mass., USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Moskowitz
mesh_terms: D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000451:nursing*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods; D011320:Primary Health Care