Evaluation of the DSFI as a test of organic impotence

Abstract

Psychology tests offer the potential for a rapid inexpensive screening of patients with complaints of erectile impotence so that either surgical therapy or sexual counseling can be offered. In this study we evaluated the Derogatis Sexual Functioning Inventory (DSFI), in order to determine if it is a useful discriminator of organic and psychogenic impotence. Thirty-nine patients referred for complaints of erectile impotence completed the test. The diagnosis of 26 of those patients was identified by several other means and subjects were categorized into groups of either Organic or Psychogenic Impotence. Significant group differences were identified in two of the ten sub-tests of the DSFI profile. Those sub-tests, Affect and Satisfaction, clearly differentiated patients with Organic and Psychogenic Impotence. A Cutting score analysis using those sub-tests resulted in a 75 percent rate of classification of patients, a significant improvement over chance alone. Patients with Organic Impotence were correctly assigned by the Affects cutting score with an accuracy of 94 percent. Our early results suggest that the DSFI can differentiate between patients with Organic and Psychogenic Impotence.