111 Your Penis Wants you to Quit: ED Knowledge and Smoking Cessation Motivation in an Urban Urology Clinic

Abstract

Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the world today.1 Cigarette smoking is associated with elevated rates of cardiovascular disease, GU malignancy and erectile dysfunction2. Erectile dysfunction alone is estimated to affect 34 million men this year. This urban population study assesses knowledge of the association between smoking and erectile dysfunction and examines smoking cessation motivation once subjects learned of the link between smoking and erectile dysfunction. A cross-sectional study of an outpatient clinic comprised of smoking and nonsmoking men (>18), was conducted using a 13-item questionnaire assessing demographic data, relevant smoking history, and participants’ awareness of erectile dysfunction association with smoking. We utilized the International Index of Erectile Dysfunction (IIEF-5) questionnaire to assess the degree of erectile dysfunction, the Fagerstom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) 6 to assess smoking dependence as well as the Readiness to Quit Ladder to assess motivation of quitting both before and after an education statement was provided. The education statement was "Smokers are twice as likely to develop erectile dysfunction (impotence) compared to nonsmokers and quitting smoking has been shown to improve erections.” Statistical analysis was performed utilizing survey responses with significance levels of p < .05.