Reasons of dropout from short- and long-term self-injection therapy for impotence

To define the satisfaction rate and the dropout causes of intracavernous self-injection therapy in impotent patients.

A total of 250 impotent patients treated with intracavernous injection of drugs from 1991 to 1997 were mailed a questionnaire about their experience with this method. If the patient discontinued therapy, eight possible explanations for discontinuation were tested to identify reasons for terminating therapy (multiple choices were allowed). The causes of impotence were correlated with the rates of patients continuing or discontinuing therapy.

144 of 250 patients (57.6%) returned the questionnaire. Of the 106 non-responding patients, 50% could not be reached due to relocation. The patients were divided into three groups according to the duration of injection use. In group I, 35 of 144 patients (24%) did not continue therapy at home because either they felt it was unnatural (20%), they were dissatisfied (20%), or they experienced improvement of spontaneous erections (15%). In group II, 57 of 144 patients (40%) continued therapy at home and dropped out after a mean duration of 6.9 (range 0.5-48) months due to dissatisfaction (22%), cost reasons (20%), or insufficient erection for penetration (19.4%). In group III, 52 of 144 patients (36%) were continuing therapy with a mean follow-up period of 19.8 (range 2-72) months. The mean ages were not statistically different in the three groups. Also the aetiologies of impotence were similar: 35% psychogenic, 25% organic, and 40% mixed psychogenic/organic. Patients with psychogenic aetiology seem to continue therapy more frequently than others.

The long-term follow-up revealed a high attrition rate of intracavernous self-injection therapy. Patient dissatisfaction, cost, and insufficient erection for penetration were the major causes of dropout.