32% more men complain of reduced sex drive in 2019 versus 2009

A single-centre study collecting longitudinal data over 10 years reported that substantially more men complain of reduced sexual desire than a decade ago. Conversely, fewer men complain of erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation.

Prof. Paolo Capogrosso (San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy) presented their study attempting to address why men seek medical support for sexual health problems [1]. While erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation have become less commonly reported, complaints of reduced sexual desire and Peyronie's disease are on the rise.

The researchers included 3,244 men who visited the San Raffaele Hospital Sexual Health Clinic over the last decade (2009-2019) and collected information concerning the reasons they initiated consultation. The observations boiled down to a few key trends:

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    • Since 2013, there has been a steady decrease in the number of men who complained of erectile dysfunction.
    • At baseline in 2009, very few patients reported low sex drive or Peyronie's disease, yet since 2009, self-reporting of these 2 conditions has steadily increased.
    • In 2019, 30% of men were more likely to report Peyronie's disease compared with a decade earlier.
    • 32% more men reported low sexual desire in 2019 compared with 2009.
    • The proportion of men reporting premature ejaculation reduced by nearly 6% in the last decade.
    • The average age of patients visiting the sexual health clinic dropped from 61 in 2009 to 53 in 2019.

Although erectile dysfunction is still the main reason for attending the clinic, this number has been steadily dropping. In contrast, Peyronie's disease appears to be steadily more reported, and makes up 35% of the complaints registered in 2019. Given that stigma surrounding sexual health has been presumably decreasing steadily, some of the changes reflect a novel openness to seek help at a sexual health clinic. Similarly, successful and accessible erectile dysfunction treatments are possibly attributable to the dropping numbers of that particular complaint.

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   1. Capogrosso P, et al. EAU20 Virtual Congress, 17-26 July 2020, Abstract 731. Session: Diagnostic novelties in male sexual dysfunction.

Posted on 24 August 202026 October 2020