Women's perception of male erectile dysfunction drugs in the general population.

Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate trends in women's perception of male erectile dysfunction (ED) drugs in the general population.

Methods: We designed an online questionnaire survey and randomly invited an initial total of 2370 women to respond to it from a database population that included 450,000 men and women recruited through an Internet-based market research company. The 17 items of the questionnaire comprised 9 items related to socio-cultural background and 8 items related to the perception of ED drugs, ED itself, and sexual relations.

Results: A total of 1262 women (53.2% of those initially invited), ranging in age from 20 to 77 years, participated. Among the participants, 83.3% were aware of the existence of ED drugs, but only 12.0% showed some interest in them, 46.4% and 43.2% of the participants claimed to have an unfavorable image of ED drugs, and of men using ED drugs, respectively. Among the participants, 45.2% stated that if their partners suffered from ED at present or in the future, they would not desire their partners to use ED drugs, and 25.5% stated that they would not accept it. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that higher age had a negative impact on knowledge, interest and image of ED drugs, the image of men using ED drugs, and the importance of sexual relations.

Conclusions: Our findings reveal that a high proportion of women have a negative perception of ED drugs and associated issues in Japan.