Changes in erectile response to repeated audiovisual sexual stimulation (1998)

• ¹Department of Urology, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, Korea.

OBJECTIVES:

To determine changes in erectile response to repeated audiovisual sexual stimulation in patients with psychogenic impotence and normal men.

METHODS:

The same erotic video was shown to 45 men (20 patients with psychogenic impotence and 25 normal men) for 3 consecutive days. Their erectile responses during the audiovisual stimulation were monitored using RigiScan (Dacomed, Minneapolis, Minn., USA), and the maximal rigidity of erection, sustained for more than 5 min, was measured. The rigidities on the first, second and third days were comparatively analyzed. Whether previous multiple viewings of the erotic movie and previous exposure to the same or a similar movie influenced the erectile response were also evaluated.

RESULTS:

Rigidity on the third day was significantly decreased compared to that on the first day in both patients with psychogenic impotence and normal controls (p < 0.05), regardless of the frequency of previous viewings and the previous exposure to a similar movie. Rigidity on the first day was significantly lower in the group with multiple viewings than in the group with fewer viewings (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS:

Real-time monitoring of penile erection during audiovisual sexual stimulation may result in false-negative responses when patients are repeatedly exposed to the stimulation.