NIH Consensus Conference. Impotence. NIH Consensus Development Panel on Impotence

THE TERMimpotence, as it has been applied to the title of this conference, has traditionally been used to signify the inability of the male to attain and maintain erection of the penis sufficient to permit satisfactory sexual intercourse. However, this use has often led to confusing and uninterpretable results in clinical and basic science investigations. This, together with its pejorative implications, suggests that the more precise termerectile dysfunctionbe used instead to signify an inability of the male to achieve an erect penis as part of the overall multifaceted process of male sexual function. This process comprises a variety of physical aspects with important psychological and behavioral overtones. In an effort to be precise in the analysis of the material discussed at this conference, this consensus report addresses issues of male erectile dysfunction as implied by use of the termimpotencein the reports that have been presented.