Introduction
The issue of sexual dysfunction is very sensitive and not every individual will report his problem. The number of male individuals with sexual dysfunction may therefore be small. The best place to get this population is in a clinical setting due to the sensitivity of the condition. The sample population of this study therefore will include men with problems of erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation.
Any patient with other co-morbidities other than sexual dysfunction will not be included in the study. Hospital records will help to determine that. In addition, any subject who is not a permanent resident in the city, where the hospital is located will not be recruited. All the subjects will be recruited in the study regardless of their socio-economic status. The sample will include male subjects of reproductive age: between 18 and 50 years.
This sample population will be recruited from a hospital setting, which will be selected purposively. Every subject will be given an equal chance of taking part in the study through use of random sampling. This kind of sampling is recommended because it is representative of the general population and decreases sampling error and sampling bias.
Unfortunately, since it is difficult to obtain a complete sampling frame for this kind of population, hospital records will be used to identify the population and use this population size to come up with a sample size using a sample size calculator. A 95% confidence interval will be selected while calculating the sample size.
Since the sample includes two sub-groups (male subjects with erectile dysfunction and those with premature ejaculation), proportional stratified kind of random sampling will be used to draw subjects with reference to the determined sample size. Scientifically choosing a sample population for this study will increase its chances of achieving external validity.
Research Design
The chosen method of research design is an analytical case study. This kind of methodology will attempt to analyze the consequences of treatment and the rationale behind its effectiveness, in accordance with the results of the study. A case study is useful in giving insight into a complicated issue and can augment what has already been established in previous research (Krupp, et al. 2007).
This is the case in the present study since the case study that will be used can augment previous studies that have indicated pharmacotherapy treatment to be successful in treating males with erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. For the sake of achieving external validity, one type of pharmacotherapy treatment will be used for all subjects.
Each case will be thoroughly studied and analyzed. The case study research design helps a researcher to examine a condition in its real life context. Questionnaires will be used to collect data on the opinions of the subjects with regard to their condition. This will help to determine whether the condition is psychological or medical related.
It will also gather data on the outcome of sexual performance when pharmacotherapy treatment is used. In addition, interviews with the health workers will be conducted to get a deeper understanding into the sexual dysfunction conditions under study. Observation will also be used because it mainly helps to understand the unspoken language, that is, the perceptions and attitudes while filling in questionnaires and conducting interviews.
According to Yin (2003), a case study excels when answering the questions why and how, and when contextual information needs to be unveiled. In this study of pharmacotherapy treatment, not every sexual dysfunction is as a result of medical misfit, but, other psychological factors are concerned. Therefore, since a case study helps to understand the many facets revolving a complex issue, it will help to draw out clear cut lines into the determinants of sexual dysfunction and under which circumstances it works best.
Expected Outcome
A lot of literature is available on how pharmacotherapy treatment counteracts erectile dysfunction as opposed to premature ejaculation. According to a critical review of literature by Eardley, et al. (2010), different types of pharmacotherapy treatment are used in the treatment of sexual dysfunction. Phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors have been shown to be effective, safe and well-tolerated by patients.
The same is the case for Apormorphine, intraurethral alpostadil and intracavernosal injection therapy with alpostadil. Pharmacotherapy is usually the preferred initial treatment for sexual dysfunction and specifically, erectile dysfunction. The field of pharmacotherapy in treating erectile dysfunction has evolved over time and more development in the field is ongoing.
This study however has concentrated on erectile dysfunction alone. Various pharmacotherapy treatments for premature ejaculation are available but none of them has been approved according to Avasthi & Biswas (2004). Phosphodiesterase type 5 has been found to be the most beneficial accepted pharmacotherapy treatment in addressing premature ejaculation.
In this study therefore based on these previous literatures among others, there is a high probability that pharmacotherapy treatment will yield in positive results in the treatment of sexual dysfunction. Unfortunately, literature is available on only the use of sildenafil, as an acceptable mode of treatment, in treating premature ejaculation. The difference in the level of effectiveness of the mode of treatment used for this study when compared with and other studies may vary for erectile dysfunction since only one type of pharmacotherapy treatment will be used.
References
Avasthi, A., & Biswas, P. (2004). Pharmacotherapy of Sexual Dysfunctions: Current Status. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 46 (3), 213-220.
Eardley, I., Donatucci, C., Corbin, J, El-Meliegy, A., Hatzimouratidis, K., McVary, K.,…Lee, S. (2010). Pharmacotherapy for Erectile Dysfunction. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 7, 524-540.
Krupp, K., Madhivanan, P., Karat, C., Chandrasekaran, V., Sarvode, M., Klausner, J., & Reingold, A. (2007). Novel recruitment strategies to increase participation of women in reproductive health research in India. Global Public Health. 2 (4), 395-403.doi: 10.1080/17441690701238031.
Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.