Reaching consensus: a scoping review on erectile disorder guidelines

Erectile disorder (ED) is the continuous or repeated inability to achieve an erection or maintain its firmness for an adequate amount of time during sexual intercourse. Given the importance of utilizing quality clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for the diagnosis of ED, the research team conducted a scoping review of erectile disorder CPGs to address the questions based on the clinical guideline of the best quality. This scoping review was conducted in five steps: 1 – identification of the research question, 2 – identification of relevant studies, 3 – selection of studies, 4 – data extraction, 5 – summarizing and reporting the results. The initial search yielded 1,888 articles, CPGs and books but after primary and secondary screening by two appraisers, 9 CPGs were extracted. After that, the two appraisers examined the quality of these guidelines using the AGREE II tool. Eventually, 5 CPGs extracted. After reviewing 5 guidelines, 5 questions were answered. Overall, the CPGs had desirable overlap in response to the marked questions; nevertheless, there were some differences in details too. This review shows that the first and foremost principle in examining the affected individuals is taking a complete detailed history, followed by a physical examination and use of relevant questionnaires to complete the information necessary to diagnose the problem. The next step is to perform routine lab tests; hormonal profiles may also be checked, and if necessary, special tests should be performed based on an individual's conditions.