When patients with ED take a pill of tadalafil on a daily basis, this is the right decision on condition that they belong to the group of men who favorably respond to an on-demand PED5 therapy. This conclusion was made in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
The research that was organized by Eli Lilly Company in Indianapolis, aimed to reveal satisfaction in male participants who respond to RPN PDE5 therapy and their partners after ED treatment. The men had to take 5mg tadalafil on a daily basis. Some participants took placebo. The therapy lasted for 12 weeks. First 4 weeks they were on maximal dosage of PRN plus washout period without medication that continued for 4 weeks.
The score of satisfaction was much better in the group that took real medication while the placebo group had lower satisfaction level. The patients from non-placebo group experienced the same satisfaction and patients do when they have on-demand therapy.
Nevertheless, one of the experts from Medscape Advisory Board were not fully pleased with the results, which the researchers received. Gerald Chodak, MD, said that knowledge about efficiency of tadalafil was not revelation. All are aware of the benefit of the medication taken on demand compared to none at all. However, the study does not answer the question if men have to take medication on a daily level.
Dr Chodak also paid attention to the amount of sex sessions that men had. They reported that they tried to have sex 6-7 times a month in a prior-study and post-study period. That means that the number of sex sessions does not increase with new kind of treatment but men have to take more pills when they take the medication daily. Compare 30 pills a month and 6-7 pills taken on demand. The only benefit is that men do not have to worry about taking pill when they have daily basis therapy but is it worth it? This is the weak point of the study. Why did Dr Chodak criticize the study? He said that it had not answered the main question of research.
It was written in the study that the average number of sexual attempts was 6.9 for placebo group participants and 6.6 for male participants who took tadalafil during PRN lead-in that lasted for a month. When washout period continued (4 weeks) the data was the following: the number of sexual attempts was 5.9 in placebo group and 5.8 in tadalafil group. When the therapy period lasted for 4 weeks, men took a pill daily. The number of sexual attempts registered during this period is 6.5 for male participants from the placebo group and 6.7 for men who belong to tadalafil group.
PDE5 medication is the first drug that is prescribed for men when they are diagnosed with erectile dysfunction. Nevertheless, many men discontinue treatment within a year.
According to the information received earlier only one half of all male patients are able to manage it during treatment with PDE5.
The team of researchers was going to reveal the level of satisfaction in male participants who were treated with 5mg tadalafil pills on a daily basis after they responded to the medication on on-demand basis. The specialists discovered that male patients who took medication every day achieved better satisfaction level than those who belonged to placebo group. Such data was included to the Treatment Satisfaction Survey. You can find this result in its all areas. It means that men were more satisfied with erection, completion of their sexual activity, orgasm, sexual pleasure. Upon the whole, they were also pleased with drug and effects it brings. The same level of satisfaction was observed in their partners.
The team of researchers also discovered that average satisfaction score in male patients who are treated on a daily basis can be compared with level of satisfaction in male participants who took the same medicine on demand.
The participants of the study were from 18 years old and suffered from erectile dysfunction for 3 months. The level of erectile dysfunction in majority of male participants was from mild to moderate.
Also, men who participated in the study consented to have sexual intercourse or attempt to have it at least 4 times a month during the research period that lasted for 12 weeks and included PRN lead-in period, washout period and tadalafil intake period. All three periods lasted for 4 weeks.