Does educational status affect a patient's behavior toward erectile dysfunction?

Introduction. Educational status has been investigated rarely as a potential factor affecting the behavior of patients with new onset erectile dysfunction (ED) toward seeking first medical help and subsequent compliance with prescribed phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor (PDE5) therapy. Aim. To test whether the educational status of patients with new onset ED and naive to PDE5 therapy may have a significant impact on the delay before seeking first medical help (DSH) and compliance with the suggested PDE5. Main Outcome Measures. Assessing DSH and compliance with PDE5 in new onset ED patients according to their educational status by means of detailed logistic regression analyses. Methods. Data from 302 consecutive patients with new onset ED and naive to PDE5s were comprehensively analyzed. Patients were segregated according to their educational status into low (elementary and/or secondary school education) and high (high school and/or university degrees) educational levels. Complete data were available for 231 assessable patients. Univariate (UVA) and multivariate (MVA) logistic regression analyses addressed the association between educational status and DSH after adjusting for age, relationship status, and Sexual Health Inventory for Men score. Likewise, UVA and MVA were performed to test the association between educational status and patient compliance with PDE5 at the 9-month median follow-up. Results. Median DSH was 24 months (range 1-350; mean 38.1 +/- 42.8). The lower the educational status, the shorter the DSH (P = 0.03). In contrast, a significantly (P < 0.0001) greater proportion of patients with a higher educational status showed compliance with the suggested PDE5 at the 9-month follow-up. Overall, educational status was not an independent predictor of either DSH or patient compliance with PDE5 therapy. Conclusions. After adjusting for other variables, our findings suggest that in new onset ED patients, educational status does not independently affect the DSH and patient compliance with PDE5 therapy.