Published online Feb 28, 2007.
https://doi.org/10.4111/kju.2007.48.2.219
Comparison of the Efficacy, Safety and Patient Preference of the Phosphodiesterase Type 5 Inhibitors for the Patients with Erectile Dysfunction
Abstract
Purpose
To compare the clinical efficacy and safety of three phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors in the treatment of mele erectile dysfunction according to patient preference.
Materials and Methods
Between January 2004 and August 2005, 113 male erectile dysfunctional patients were enrolled to this randomized, prospective, comparative, open-label, triple-crossover study of three PDE5 inhibitors. Patients were assigned to one of six medication schedules, and were prescribed a full dose of the drugs for 8 weeks, with a week of washout period prior to the next drug cycle. The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) scores and side effects related with each medication were obtained at the end of study. 48 patients finished all the medications, and completed the study with a global assessment questionnaire on their drug preference and reasons for that preference.
Results
The mean age of the patients was 54.6 (33-73) years. The mean pre-treatment IIEF and EF domain scores (±S.D.) were 28.2±14.7 and 10.6±6.6, respectively. The scores were significantly improved, to 47.9±14.6 and 19.9±6.6 with sildenafil, to 49.7±12.3 and 21.3±5.8 with vardenafil, and to 47.9±14.9 and 19.8±7.2 with tadalafil (p<0.01). There were no significant differences in the scores or frequencies of side effects between the drugs. The preference percentages were 29.2, 29.2 and 35.4% for sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil, respectively. Patient preference was mainly due to improvement in erectile function (70.9%), such as rigid erection, prolonged erection and fast erection, and not to the infrequent rate of side effects (20.8%).
Conclusions
There were no significant differences of the efficacy and safety among the three PDE5 inhibitors. The preference for a drug for the treatment of erectile dysfunction was mainly related to the efficacy on the improvement of erectile function rather than the less frequent side effects.
Fig. 1
Study design: patients were enrolled and assigned to one of six different medication schedules, according to prescription of drug sequence, and were prescribed a full dose of each PDE5 inhibitors (sildenafil 100mg; vardenafil 20mg; tadalafil 20mg) for 8 weeks, with a week of washout period, prior to the next drug cycle. IIEF and EF domain scores, responses to a general assessment questionnaire, and side effects were checked at the end of each period. 48 patients completed the study to the final questionnaire on their drug preference, and gave their reason for this preference. IIEF: International Index of Erectile Function.
Fig. 2
Changes in the IIEF and EFD scores before and after treatment with three phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors. IIEF: International Index of Erectile Function, EFD: erectile function domain. p<0.01: when post-treatment IIEF and EFD scores of the 3 PDE5 inhibitors were compared with pre- treatment scores.
Fig. 3
Reasons for patient preference for the three drugs.
Table 1
The preference for the three different type 5 phosphodiesterase (PDE5) inhibitors
Table 2
The safety of three type 5 phosphodiesterase (PDE5) inhibitors
References
-
The process of care model for evaluation and treatment of erectile dysfunction. The Process of Care Consensus Panel. Int J Impot Res 1999;11:59.
-
-
Omrod D, Easthope SE, Figgitt DP. Vardenafil. Drugs Aging 2002;19:217–227.
-
-
Eardley I, Cartledge J. Tadalafil (Cialis®) for men with erectile dysfunction. Int J Clin Pract 2002;56:300–304.
-
-
Porst H, Arnds S, Kleingarn M. The three PDE 5 inhibitors sildenafil, tadalafil, and vardenafil - results of a comparative preference trial in 222 patients with erectile dysfunction. Eur Urol 2004;2 Suppl 3:408.
-
-
Sommer F, Mathers M, Klotz T, Van Ahlen H, Bondarenko B, Ozgur E, et al. Which PDE5 inhibitor do you prefer? A comparative randomized multicenter study of sildenafil, tadalafil, and vardenafil. J Urol 2004;171 Suppl 4:314–315.
-
-
Claes H, Van Poppel H. The use of sildenafil, tadalafil, and vardenafil in clinical practice. J Sex Med 2005;2 Suppl 1:21.
-
-
Park NC, Park HJ, Nam JK, Kim JM. Efficacy and side effects of the PDE-5 inhibitors sildenafil, vardenafil, and tadalafil: results of an open label study of patient preference in Korea. J Sex Med 2004;1 Suppl 1:55.
-
-
Yoon CJ, Lee SH, Moon KH, Yoo ES, Park JS, Lee KS, et al. The analysis of preference for three PDE-5 inhibitors. Korean J Androl 2005;23:116–121.
-
-
Carson CC. PDE5 inhibitors: are there differences? Can J Urol 2006;13 Suppl 1:34–39.
-
-
Shabsigh R, Burnett AL, Eardley J, Sharlip ID, Ellsworth PI, Garcia CS, et al. Time from dosing to sexual intercourse attempts in men taking tadalafil in clinical trials. BJU Int 2006;96:857–863.
-