Treatment continuation for erectile dysfunction and switching patterns in Spanish patients: EDOS study

Introduction: In spite of the high effectiveness of erectile dysfunction (ED) treatment, high discontinuation rates are reported nowadays. In this study we describe patterns of ED treatment and factors associated to treatment persistence. Material and methods: Observational, pan-European, study that assessed effectiveness of ED treatment and factors associated to treatment persistence under routine clinical settings. Men >= 18 years about to initiate or change ED treatment were enrolled. Patients were evaluated at baseline, and at 3 and 6 months. Here we present data from the Spanish patients who were part of the EDOS study. Results and discussion: A total of 69.5% of the 1,020 eligible patients were treatment naive. At baseline, 56.6% of patients received tadalafil; 16.6% sildenafil; 19.6% vardenafil; and 7.2% received other treatments. Overall discontinuation at 6 months was 16.7%, whereas 52.5% of subjects remained on the same treatment. A higher persistence rate was seen in the tadalafil cohort (58.2%) in comparison with sildenafil (46.8%), and vardenafil (39.1%). Treatment with tadalafil, mild ED at baseline and presence of endocrine disorders other than Diabetes mellitus were predictive factors for treatment persistence at 6 months. Conclusions: Starting treatment with tadalafil may increase the likelihood of treatment continuation in patients with Ell.