The findings in a new study on Viagra might seem obvious – the sexual satisfaction of couples involving a male with erectile dysfunction improved significantly when the man took Viagra. The novelty is that researchers cared what the woman thought.
Unlike treatments involving therapy, sex research involving pharmaceutical treatments often is limited to effects only on the person taking the medication.
“The nice thing about this study is, it reminds us that when people engage in a treatment, even taking a pill, it doesn't stop at the edge of their skin. It can, and often does, affect others,” says Julia Heiman, lead author of the study and director of The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction. “In this study, changes in one partner were correlated with changes in another. If one partner improved, so did the other.”
For the men, the younger they were, the more their sexual satisfaction improved with the use of Viagra. For women, those who were generally satisfied in their overall relationship but dissatisfied with their sexual relationship reported greater sexual satisfaction when their partner used Viagra.
The study, funded by Pfizer, Inc., involved 176 couples in which the male had erectile dysfunction, and the female expressed dissatisfaction with their sex life. The male partner in each couple was randomly assigned to either receive Viagra or a placebo for 12 weeks/ Seventy-nine Viagra and 76 placebo group couples finished the entire study. The mean age for men was 58, with ages ranging from 30 to 86. Most of the women were postmenopausal at an average age of 58, with ages ranging from 20 to 79.
The study found that the women whose partners took Viagra reported a significant improvement in their sexual satisfaction and in their arousal and orgasms. Men in the Viagra group showed significant improvement/changes in erectile functioning, intercourse satisfaction, overall sexual satisfaction, and frequency of intercourse satisfaction. Their orgasm function did not increase significantly.
The results showed no significant improvement to the couples' relationship, but Heiman noted they rated their relationships in the satisfactory range to begin with. Neither the men nor women saw an increase in their desire.
“We are always interested in the health effects of sexuality, and the motivations for seeking treatment, says Heiman, whose research examines the development and impact of different sexual treatments on individuals and couples. “Maybe it's the partner's response that is most important in predicting long term treatment gains as well as general health gains. It would be worthwhile knowing that.”
The study, “Sexual function and satisfaction in heterosexual couples when men are administered sildenafil citrate (Viagra) for erectile dysfunction: a multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial,” appears in the journal BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology .
The article is available online at http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1471-0528.2006.01228.x .
