ABSTRACT
Sexual dysfunction can include difficulties with libido, penile erections, and ejaculations, with erectile difficulties constituting the vast majority of this group. Previously, the term impotence was used interchangeably for all aspects of sexual dysfunction, leading to confusion. In 1992, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Conference recommended that the term erectile dysfunction (ED) be used to described problems relating to penile erections. This statement defined ED as the inability to achieve or maintain an erection long enough to permit satisfactory sexual intercourse. Decades before, Masters and Johnson gave a definition that may be preferable. It was the inability to achieve or maintain an erection long enough to complete intercourse in more than 25% of cases. This definition seems more clinically relevant, as it conveys the fact that men will occasionally fail and still be considered normal.
