Introduction and objectives: Erectile Dysfunction (ED) affects couple relationships. Effect of tadalafil treatment is investigated. Methods: The DETECT study is a prospective 12 month European multi-centre observational study in patients with erectile dysfunction initiating or changing treatment to tadalafil. 236 sites from 8 countries enrolled 1900 eligible patients. Data were available from 1716(90%) and 1582(83%) patients after 1 and 6 months. At 6 months, 1406 patients were still taking tadalafil and 97% had a partner. At each visit patients with a partner were asked if they considered there were problems (unspecified) in their relationship. This analysis considers the response to this question for those who continued tadalafil treatment for 6 months. Results: Of the 19% with relationship problems at baseline, 9% still reported problems after one month and 6% after 6 months. A multivariate analysis was carried out to identify factors statistically associated with improvement in relationships, as baseline ED severity/etiology, number of sexual attempts, age, comorbidities and 6 months outcomes as change in ED severity and sexual attempts, patient satisfaction. Analysis indicated that higher levels of satisfaction with treatment (ED Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction, EDITS score) at 6 months (p<0.0001) and no depression at baseline (p=0.03) were associated with improvement in relationships. 2% of patients developed new problems after one month treatment and 3% at 6 months. Conclusions: In men with ED, therapy with tadalafil improved perceived problems in relationship and this was linked to satisfaction with treatment, suggesting that problems were associated with ED.
Conflict of Interest: None disclosed
Financial Support/Funding: Eli Lilly
Sydney, Australia, April 2007
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