title: Treatment of erectile dysfunction reduces psychological distress.
abstract: Mental stress is a risk factor for cardiovascular events in men with vascular risk factors (VRFs) and is also associated with erectile dysfunction (ED), a frequent complaint of men with VRFs. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of inhibition of phosphodiesterase-5 or of placebo in men with ED and VRFs on self-evaluated psychological distress, erectile function and quality of sexual life. Thirty-six men with ED and VRFs were randomized to 4 weeks of tadalafil (20 mg/every other day) or placebo treatment. Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM), questions 1-3 of Life Satisfaction (LiSat) questionnaire, Symptom Check-List-90R, a multidimensional inventory exploring psychological dimensions were applied before and after treatment. The SHIM score improved after treatment with tadalafil compared with baseline and with placebo (F = 10.38; p = 0.0030). Sexual life satisfaction (LiSat-2) was significantly improved after tadalafil and after placebo, but a strong positive correlation was observed between LiSat-2 and SHIM score after tadalafil treatment (r = 0.59, p = 0.0003) and not after placebo (r = 0.22, p = 0.189). Psychological features were significantly changed after treatment, although a specific effect of tadalafil vs. placebo was observed only for interpersonal sensitivity (F = 4.48; p = 0.042). Obsessive-compulsive dimension, depression, anxiety, psychoticism were significantly improved in the tadalafil group and in the placebo group, although the improvement was always more relevant after treatment with tadalafil. These preliminary data suggest that a short treatment of ED reduced psychological distress and improved quality of sexual life in men with VRFs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Centre of Andrology, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bocchio
authors.forename: Fiore
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pelliccione
authors.forename: Radu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mihalca
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ciociola
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Necozione
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Felice
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Francavilla
authors.forename: Sandro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Francavilla
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002243:Carbolines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007172:Erectile Dysfunction / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010726:Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010919:Placebos; D011788:Quality of Life; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D000068581:Tadalafil
chemical_list: D002243:Carbolines; D010726:Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors; D010919:Placebos; D000068581:Tadalafil