Sexual Health Inventory for Men Questionnaire as a Screening Method for Erectile Dysfunction in a General Urology Clinic

INTRODUCTION: Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) is a validated questionnaire that is widely used in urology clinics to evaluate and assess treatment efficacy for erectile dysfunction (ED). AIM: In this study, we evaluated the benefit of using the SHIM questionnaire as a screening tool for ED in a general urology clinic MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed records of patients presenting to our general urology clinic from October 2018 to June 2019. During this period, all new male urology patients who are 40 years of age or older visiting the general urology clinic for any urologic condition received the SHIM questionnaire. We excluded all patients whose chief complaint was ED, Peyronie's disease, and hypogonadism. Patients were then asked if they want treatment for ED, and those patients who did, received a full ED evaluation and treatment. Factors associated with desire for ED treatment were analyzed using logistic regression. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: SHIM score, desire for ED treatment, and factors influencing desire for treatment. RESULTS: Three hundred seventy-nine patients received the SHIM questionnaire. Of which, 48 patients (12.7%) declined to fill the questionnaire. We excluded all patients presenting for sexual health issues (67 patients, 17.7%). We included the remaining 264 patients (69.6%). The mean age was 61.7 years (range 40 to 85). Older patients were more likely to want ED treatment and had lower SHIM scores. However, older than the age of 70 years, there was a decline in the number of patients wanting treatment. In a multivariate regression analysis, age between 61 and 70 years and having diabetes mellitus were associated with the desire for ED treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The SHIM questionnaire is a useful tool in the general urology clinic. It can serve as an efficient tool to screen for and quantify ED in patients presenting for other urologic issues. Maximum benefit is seen in patients between the age of 51 and 70 years and in patients with diabetes. Alwaal A, Awad M, Boggs N, et al. Sexual Health Inventory for Men Questionnaire as a Screening Method for Erectile Dysfunction in a General Urology Clinic. Sex Med 2020;8:660–663.