Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common male sexual disorder. The relative benefits and harms of pharmacologic therapies for ED, as well as the value of hormonal testing in men with ED, are uncertain.
Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and harms of oral phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors and hormonal treatments for ED and assess the effect of measuring serum hormone levels on treatment outcomes for ED.
Data sources: English-language studies from MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PsycINFO, AMED, and SCOPUS through April 2009. Trial reference lists also were scanned.
Study selection: Randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) of oral PDE-5 inhibitors and hormonal treatment for ED, and observational studies reporting measurement of serum hormone levels, prevalence of hormonal abnormalities, or both in men with ED.
Data extraction: Two independent reviewers abstracted data on study, participant, and treatment characteristics; efficacy and harms outcomes; and prevalence of hormonal abnormalities.
Data synthesis: Data, primarily from short-term trials (<or=12 weeks), indicate that PDE-5 inhibitors were more effective than placebo in improving sexual intercourse success (69.0% vs. 35.0%). The proportion of men with improved erections was significantly greater among those treated with PDE-5 inhibitors (range, 67.0% to 89.0%) than with placebo (range, 27.0% to 35.0%). The PDE-5 inhibitors were associated with increased risk for any adverse events compared with placebo (for example, relative risk with sildenafil, 1.72 [95% CI, 1.53 to 1.93]). In 4 head-to-head RCTs comparing sildenafil, vardenafil, and tadalafil, improvement of ED and adverse events did not differ among treatments. Results from 15 RCTs evaluating hormonal treatment of ED were inconsistent on whether treatment improved outcomes. Evidence was insufficient regarding whether men with ED had a higher prevalence of hypogonadism than men without ED.
Limitations: Many RCTs were of low methodological and reporting quality, particularly those involving hormonal treatments or directly comparing different PDE-5 inhibitors. Most RCTs provided only short-term efficacy and harms data.
Conclusion: Oral PDE-5 inhibitors improved erectile functioning and had similar efficacy and safety profiles. Results on the efficacy of hormonal treatments and the value of hormone testing in men with ED were inconclusive.
Primary funding source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.