Help seeking behaviour among men with erectile dysfunction in primary care setting

Abstract 

Background

To examine the self-reported erectile problem and help-seeking behaviour among men.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out among 1331 men aged 40 years and above who attended public primary care clinics in an urban district in Malaysia. Questions were asked regarding presence of erectile problem, help-seeking behaviour and treatment sought.

Results

The mean age was 54.7 (±8.3), ranging from 40 to 79 years. Among the subjects, 69.5% (n = 925) had erectile dysfunction (ED); however, only 54.8% reported having difficulty with erection. The subjects with severe ED had higher proportion of self-reported ED (90.8%) than moderate (75.7%) and mild ED (27.4%). More than two-third of the subjects (67.2%) have spoken to someone about their difficulty; of these, 54.1% spoke to their spouse or partner, 6.3% to friends and 5.3% to family members. Only 32.4% had initiated the discussion with their doctor, whereas only 10.5% reported that their doctor had raised the issue. Among the men who did not seek any help, reasons were: ED normal part of aging (37.9%), due to health condition (32.2%), ED was caused by medication (9.4%) and they were embarrassed (7.3%). Only 4.4% had sought treatment. More than one third participants (35%) had used Sildenafil while most had used other traditional medicines such as Tongkat Ali, massage and Chinese herbs.

Conclusions

Self-reported erectile problem among men is common. However, ED is not a health condition that patients would commonly discuss with their doctors despite the fact that they are already seeing doctors for various other medical reasons.

Keywords:  Erectile dysfunction , Primary care , Help seeking behaviour

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