Association of PDE-5 Inhibitor Use in Men With ED and Sexual Function of Female Partners

Journal of Sex Research, Feb, 2006

Association of PDE-5 Inhibitor Use in Men With ED and Sexual Function of Female Partners, William Fisher, University of Western Ontario; Raymond C. Rosen, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; Ian Eardley, St. James University Hospital, United Kingdom; Craig Niederberger, University of Illinois at Chicago; Michael Sand, Bayer Heathcare

The Female Experience of Men's Attitudes to Life Events and Sexuality (FEMALES) study characterized female partners of men with erectile dysfunction (ED) enrolled in the Men's Attitudes to Life Events and Sexuality (MALES) 2004 study, with respect to females' attitudes, beliefs, and sexual experience. We investigated the association between use of PDE-5 inhibitors by the male partner and sexual experience of the female partner. From the sample of men with ED participating in the MALES 2004 study, 283 female partners were subsequently recruited and interviewed via separate questionnaires. In addition to other items, female partners of men with ED were asked "before (and since) your partner experienced difficulties with his erection, how frequently (almost always, most times, sometimes, a few times, never) during sexual activity with your partner did the following (I experienced sexual desire or interest, I became aroused, I reached orgasm, I experienced pain with sex) occur?" Results were stratified by concomitant PDE-5 inhibitor use/nonuse by the partner. Female partners of men with ED reported significant declines in the proportion of time they almost always/most times experience desire (38%), arousal (41%), orgasm (48%), and satisfaction with sexual activity (41%) subsequent to their partner developing ED. Pain with sexual activity was not affected. Women whose partners were current users of PDE-5 inhibitor therapy reported significantly greater frequency of desire (54% vs. 43%), arousal (56% vs. 40%), and orgasm (46% vs. 30%) than did women whose partner was not a current PDE-5 inhibitor user. The data provide evidence that use of PDE-5 inhibitor therapy by men with ED may improve the sexual experience of both partners.