Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31615034›Full record

ArticleJournal of clinical medicine2019

Evaluation of the Mistakes in Self-Diagnosis of Sexual Dysfunctions in 11,000 Male Outpatients: A Real-Life Study in An Andrology Clinic.

Giovanni Burgio, Bruno Giammusso, Aldo E Calogero, Daniele Mollaioli, Rosita A Condorelli, Emmanuele A Jannini, Sandro La Vignera

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of clinical medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
  2. Article
  3. Clinical inertia in sexual medicine practice.World journal of methodology · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Giovanni BurgioDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy. burgio.giovanni88@libero.it.ORCID 0000-0002-8099-0782
Bruno GiammussoUrology Clinic, Policlinic "Morgagni", 95125 Catania, Italy. bgiammusso@hotmail.it.
Aldo E CalogeroDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy. acaloger@unict.it.ORCID 0000-0001-6950-335X
Daniele MollaioliChair of Endocrinology and Medical Sexology (ENDOSEX), Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy. daniele.mollaioli@gmail.com.
Rosita A CondorelliDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy. rosita.condorelli@unict.it.ORCID 0000-0002-5217-9343
Emmanuele A JanniniChair of Endocrinology and Medical Sexology (ENDOSEX), Department of Systems Medicine, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 00133 Rome, Italy. eajannini@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0002-5874-039X
Sandro La VigneraDepartment of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy. sandrolavignera@unict.it.ORCID 0000-0002-7113-2372
University of Catania · ITUniversity of Rome Tor Vergata · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThe aim of this study was to compare the initial request for sexual consultation with the final diagnosis and to evaluate the limits of the active andrological anamnesis concerning unclassified male sexual dysfunction.

methodsIn this 12-year observational retrospective study, we collected data from patients referring to an andrological outpatient clinic, evaluating the requests, perceptions, needs, and self-diagnosis at their first visit and comparing them with the final diagnosis reached after a complete clinical, laboratory, and instrumental investigation.

resultsA total of 11,200 patients were evaluated. The main request of andrological consultation was erectile dysfunction (ED) (52%), followed by premature ejaculation (PE) (28%), and low sexual desire (11.5%). Among the patients seeking help for ED, about 30% were ultimately found to have a different type of dysfunction and 24% were diagnosed with an "unmet need", which included issues not present in the current nosography nonetheless affecting sexual and relational life. Among the patients referring for PE, the final diagnosis was lifelong PE for the large majority of them, regardless of whether initially they thought to have an acquired form. Several of those who sought consultation for acquired PE were frequently found to be able to compensate for lifelong PE by a subsequent coitus or were able to induce orgasm in the partner with different modalities. Among the patients referring for low sexual desire, only 57.5% were confirmed to have it; 23% had ED and 18.5% showed a raised threshold of penile sensitivity.

conclusionsThe results of this study show that the reason for consultation is frequently misleading and raise the relevance of being aware of the so-called "unmet needs" and to discuss with the patient and the couple to explore the sexual history behind the self-diagnosis. These findings also suggest the need to expand the current taxonomy of male sexual dysfunctions.

Indexed as

erectile dysfunctionhypoactive sexual desire disorderpremature ejaculationunmet needs

Identifiers

PMID31615034
PMCPMC6832924
OpenAlexW2979772367

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.