(020) Implementing a Virtual Mindfulness-based Group Therapy to Improve Male Sexual Dysfunction
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Abstract Introduction Erectile dysfunction (ED) is almost always multi-factorial. Simultaneous performance anxiety and psychogenic inhibition can impair erectile function even when underlying organic aetiologies are present. Sex therapy should be considered first-line treatment for ED. Mindfulness is a technique to focus on being aware of what you're sensing and feeling in the moment, without interpretation or judgment. Mindfulness-based therapy programs have been successful at improving female sexual dysfunction and prostate cancer survivors quality of life (QOL). Objective To design and evaluate the feasibility of a virtual, mindfulness-based group therapy (vMBGT) program for patients experiencing mild-to-moderate ED. We secondarily assess relationship satisfaction, QOL, and changes in erectile function after intervention. Methods A mixed-methods approach was taken for this feasibility pilot study. A total of 18 participants (mean age: 42; range 22-69 years) with ED were recruited to participate in a 4-week virtual mindfulness-based group therapy program. Three groups were led by trained facilitators on a weekly basis via Webex platform and ran 1.5-2 hours in length, followed by daily home-practice and sex education between sessions. Participants completed questionnaires (International Index of Erectile Functioning, Erection hardness scale, Relationship Assessment Scale, Five Facets of Mindfulness Questionnaire) as a baseline and 3 months after treatment. Qualitative exit interviews and program feedback was requested from all participants. Results The dropout rate for this study was 11%. Two of the eighteen men missed 2 of the 4 sessions; one participant dropped out and one had unanticipated work commitments. There was a statistically significant improvement in the mean IIEF scores from baseline 41 to 49 after vMBGT intervention (p < 0.05). There was a clinically significant improvement in SHIM score by 4 points. There was an improvement in EHS at 3 months compared to baseline (p=0.08) Overall, feedback was positive, and all participants responded that they would recommend this program to others. Some participants felt that the material could be lengthened to 6 weeks and/or that an in-person setting would have been more interactive, whereas others appreciate the convenience and comfort of the virtual platform. Conclusions This is the first published vMGBT program for patients experiencing mild to moderate ED. This program is feasible, the content was well received, and patients had improvement in their erectile function and QOL. Our pilot study has provoked a change to the treatments we can offer patients with ED and we have modified the program based on feedback. Further studies are needed to compare this to medical management and other psychotherapy interventions. Disclosure No
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.007 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".