Abstract
Determining if a man has erectile dysfunction (ED) seems like an innocuous task. However, this seemingly straightforward determination is fraught with peril, especially when applied to the reporting of erectile function after prostate cancer treatment. Is the wide range in ED outcomes following prostate cancer treatment really due to inherent biologic variability, or are there biases or other factors at work confounding the data? The goal of this chapter is to detail the specific difficulties for the quantification of ED in the context of challenges inherent to all scientific research: optimization of a study’s internal and external validity. Only through the understanding of the factors that influence the quantification of ED can consistent, standardized outcomes be obtained to advance the field of study.
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Albaugh, J., Wayment, R.O., Köhler, T.S. (2011). Quantification of Erectile Dysfunction After Prostate Cancer Treatment. In: McVary, K. (eds) Contemporary Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction. Contemporary Endocrinology. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60327-536-1_10
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