1. ¹Section of Health Psychology, Psychology Department (at Guy's), Institute of Psychiatry, King's College, London UK
2. ²Department of Urology, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London, UK

Correspondence: EA Grunfeld, Section of Health Psychology, Psychology Department (at Guy's), King's College London, 5th Floor Thomas Guy House, Guy's Hospital, London SE1 9RT, UK. E-mail: beth.grunfeld@kcl.ac.uk

Received 9 September 2003; Revised 7 January 2004; Accepted 22 January 2004; Published online 11 March 2004.

Abstract

The objective of the study was to apply an illness representations framework to examine patients' beliefs about erectile dysfunction (ED) and the association between those beliefs and reported quality of life. A total of 41 patients attending two secondary care clinics at a teaching hospital completed questionnaires examining quality of life, sexual functioning, illness representations (cause, time-line, coherence, consequences, cure, control and emotion) and perceptions of masculinity. Masculinity, sexual function, emotions and beliefs about consequences were found to be significantly correlated with quality of life. Multiple regression analysis revealed a model that accounted for almost 35% of the variance in quality of life of ED patients. The strongest predictor of higher quality of life was better sexual functioning (=-0.342, P<0.05) followed by more positive beliefs about the effects of ED on masculinity (=0.323, P<0.05). The results suggest that when assessing the quality of life of men with ED, patients' illness representations should be considered along with their level of sexual functioning and the effects of ED on masculinity. Patients may benefit from an intervention programme that includes an educational component, thereby providing patients with more information about treatment options and available support.