Patient’s choice of health information and treatment modality for Peyronie’s disease: a long-term assessment

Abstract

Despite various Peyronie’s disease (PD) treatment options, the literature is sparse regarding patient preference for available therapies. Our data explore resource and treatment choices made by PD men following diagnosis. A survey was mailed to 719 randomly selected PD men evaluated at our institution from 1990–2012. Questions included evaluation of treatments and preferred information resources. Results were summarized as a descriptive report with statistical analyses performed as indicated. A total of 162 men (median age 65) responded with median PD duration of 9.2 years. Information sources included medical websites (38.9%), physician (35.8%), and books (<1%). Overall, patients felt 72.5% (SD = 40) of physicians had a good understanding of PD. About 53.1% of men had tried at least one therapy with 37.2% trying two or more. In comparing therapies, most surgical patients reported improvement at 82.8%. Among a cohort of PD men responding to a mailed survey, medical websites were the most widely used source of information. Almost half of the patients chose not to pursue any form of therapy, while the remaining majority elected for non-operative intervention. These results suggest a need for greater patient and provider education on PD management.