【ED self-check Part-1】

For the men who have recently been concerned about not getting a sufficient erection or getting a weaker erection compared with when they were young, or unevenness of erection depending on physical condition, why don’t you try the ED self-check? Like every other disease, early detection and prompt treatment are also essential for ED.
The severity of the ED symptoms are various as there are some men who suffer from comparatively mild symptoms, such as only sometimes having problems with getting an erection or losing hardness during sexual intercourse to the others who suffer from serious symptoms such as not getting an erection at all. To know the severity by using the ED self-check is useful when choosing an ED curative and objectively evaluating the improvement after starting the medication.
The ED evaluation methods which are internationally used include the followings.

●International Index of Erectile Function
●Erection Hardness Score
●Nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) stamp test
●Male Sexual Health Questionnaire (MSHQ)
●Golombok-Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS)
●Brief Male Sexual Function Inventory (BMSFI)

In this column, we will introduce the IIEF5 (International Index of Erectile Function 5) which is most popular in Japan.
We suggest you try the IIEF5 if you are concerned about your ED symptoms.
Please answer about your condition over the past 6 months.

1. How much confidence did you have in regard with getting an erection and maintaining it?
【1】 very low
【2】 low
【3】 middle
【4】 high
【5】 very high

2. When getting an erection by a sexual arousal, how often did you get the hardness which was enough for you to insert it?
【0】 No sexual arousal
【1】 Didn’t get sufficient hardness or not at all
【2】 Occasionally (below half frequency)
【3】 Sometimes (approximately half)
【4】 Often (more than half frequency)
【5】 Almost always or always

3. When having sexual intercourse, how often did you maintain the erections?
【0】 Didn’t try having sexual intercourse
【1】 Almost none or not at all
【2】 Occasionally (below half frequency)
【3】 Sometimes (approximately half)
【4】 Often (more than half frequency)
【5】 Almost always or always

4. How hard was it to maintain the erection when having sexual intercourse till the end?
【0】 Didn’t try having sexual intercourse
【1】 Extremely hard
【2】 Very hard
【3】 hard
【4】 Slightly hard
【5】 Not hard at all

5. How often did you feel satisfied when having sexual intercourse?
【0】 Didn’t try having sexual intercourse
【1】 Almost none or not at all
【2】 Occasionally (below half frequency)
【3】 Sometimes (approximately half)
【4】 Often (more than half frequency)
【5】 Almost always or always

6. Classification as below according to the above-mentioned total points of five questions.
【22-25】 : Normal
【17-21】 : Mild ED symptom
【12-16】 : Mild to Moderate ED symptom
【8-11】 : Moderate to severe ED symptom
【5-7】 : Severe ED symptom

People who scored in less than 21 points are suspected to have ED. However, the sum of the score is only an indication to evaluate ED symptoms, so please visit to our practice for a consultation if you are concerned about your symptoms.

【Supervisor of this article】

Ken Takemori, MD. An anesthesiologist and Director of Shibuya 3rd Block Clinic.