Research criteria for male erectile failure

Although the spectrum of psychosexual disorders is rather broad, there is a specific subgroup of sexual function disorders which has recently received wide attention due to the increased treatment success reported with the use of primarily behavioral means. Classification in this area, however, has been quite variable making replication of studies quite difficult. Although this is somewhat improved in the new psychiatric nomenclature DSM III, that nomenclature is still not physiologically based and does not allow the specificity necessary for replication of studies for research. We present here a nosology for the sexual function disorders based on physiology and with the capability of specificity necessary for replication. It is adaptable to the current edition of DSM III.