ArticleSexual medicine2020
Epidemiology and Treatment Barriers of Patients With Erectile Dysfunction Using an Online Prescription Platform: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Article in Sexual medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Emerging Critical Role of Telemedicine in the Urology Clinic: A Practical Guide.Sexual medicine reviews · 2021Guideline
- [First German expert consensus on telemedicine in urology].Urologie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Article
- Sexual dysfunction care needs of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men living with HIV in Montreal, Canada.HIV medicine · 2026Article
- Using the International Index of Erectile Function-15 in Comparative Analysis Between Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation of the Pudendal Nerve and Low-Level Laser Therapy in the Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction After COVID-19.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Association between social determinants of health and erectile dysfunction: insights from a nationally representative US sample.Translational andrology and urology · 2025Article
- Direct-to-Consumer Erectile Dysfunction Medications: is the Convenience Worth the Cost?Current urology reports · 2025Review
- Applications, benefits, and challenges of adopting teleurology: a scoping review.World journal of urology · 2025Article
- Exploring Patient Pathways and Care Situations in Men With Erectile Dysfunction in Different PDE-5 Inhibitor Regulatory Settings.International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Response to Comment on: Patient out-of-pocket costs for guideline-recommended treatments for erectile dysfunction: a medicare cost modeling analysis.International journal of impotence research · 2025Article
- Direct-to-Consumer Telemedicine Practices in the Health and Fertility of Men: A Systematic Review of the Literature.The world journal of men's health · 2024Article
- Contemporary cost-analysis comparison of direct-to-consumer vs. traditional prescriptions of phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors.International journal of impotence research · 2023Article
- Characteristics of direct-to-consumer platforms offering erectile dysfunction treatment.Sexual medicine · 2023Article
- Evaluation of Medication Prescribing Applications Available in Australia.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Who seeks sex therapy? Sexual dysfunction prevalence and correlates, and help-seeking among clinical and community samples.PloS one · 2023Article
- [Opportunities and risks of telemedicine in urology].Der Urologe. Ausg. A · 2022Review
- The Impact of Telemedicine on Sexual Medicine at a Major Academic Center During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Sexual medicine · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionErectile dysfunction (ED) is a highly common sexual dysfunction of men but often undertreated as patients experience high treatment barriers.
aimThe aims of this study were to characterize patients with ED using an online prescription platforms (OPPs) and determine treatment barriers that might prevent patients from seeking care in conventional health care settings.
methodsData from a German OPP were retrospectively analyzed with focus on patients suffering from ED with at least one online prescription of phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitors between May 2019 and November 2019. In addition, a voluntary questionnaire was used to assess additional social features and prior treatment barriers.
main outcome measureThe main outcome measures were the epidemiological data, prescription metadata, and follow-up questionnaires.
resultsA total of 11,456 male patients received prescriptions via the OPP (mean age: 49 years [95% CI 46.92-47.45]). Patients lived mainly in rural areas (69%) and frequently sought prescriptions outside the average office times of German urologists (49%). From all patients that responded to a follow-up questionnaire (n = 242), the majority were employed full-time (81%), married (50%), and native German (94%); 63.5% had not used PDE5 inhibitors before. From all repeat users, 41% had received them from unreliable sources. Reasons to seek treatment via the OPP were convenience (48%), shame (23%), and lack of discretion (13%).
conclusionIn this first study, to epidemiologically characterize ED patients of an OPP, it was confirmed that inconvenience is a treatment barrier, along with shame and perceived lack of discretion. This is the first evidence that OPPs reduce treatment barriers and ease access for patients to the medical system. Rodler S, von Büren J, Buchner A, et al. Epidemiology and Treatment Barriers of Patients With Erectile Dysfunction Using an Online Prescription Platform: A Cross-Sectional Study. Sex Med 2020;8:370-377.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.