Sexual Attitude and Perceptions of Sexual Relationships and Erectile Dysfunction Treatment among the Wives of Long-Term Users of Sildenafil (Viagra(R))

Kim, Sae Chul

Abstract

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the sexual attitudes and perception of sexual relationships and erectile dysfunction treatment among the wives of the long-term users of sildenafil (Viagra(R)).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The study was conducted as a market survey with using random face-to-face interviews and a structured questionnaire on a population of 31 wives (mean age; 49.8 years) of long-term sildenafil users who had first taken sildenafil 5 years or more previously and they continued its use in the previous 6 months.
RESULTS
All the wives said 'It is desirable to have sex even though I am getting old, if I am healthy' and 84% had sex not for their satisfaction but for husband's satisfaction. Forty five percent perceived that having sex 1~2 times a week was ideal and 35% said having sex once per two weeks was ideal, and this was not different from happened in their real lives. Ninety four percent and 90% perceived that erectile dysfunction and women's sexual dysfunction should be treated, respectively, and 35% took a form of hormonal replacement therapy. The most influencing factors of sildenafil use on the overall satisfaction of wives' sexual and marital life were the increased frequency and intensity of orgasm and they became more intimate with their husbands, followed by the disappearance of depressed or annoying moods (p<0.01). They also felt the improved rigidity of their husband's erection after initial sildenafil use was maintained after more than 5-year use.
CONCLUSIONS
Wives of long-term sildenafil users had positive, but husband-oriented sexual attitudes. They had an intercourse-focused perception on their sexual relationship, and they ranked the increased frequency and intensity of their orgasms and becoming more intimate with husbands as the most influential factors for their sexual and marital life, and they also felt that their husbands' erection rigidity was maintained after more than 5-year use of sildenafil.