Attrition From an Internet-Based Psychological Intervention for Erectile Dysfunction: Who is Likely to Drop Out?

Abstract

The current study evaluated the dropout rate from an internet-based treatment program for erectile dysfunction (ED), and determined reasons for attrition from this program. Only 12 of 40 treatment group men and 19 of 20 control group men completed the post-test measures. Reasons for the men being excluded or dropping out of the study are discussed. These reasons included medical conditions that contributed to their ED, the man's partner not being interested in participating in the program, a lack of motivation from the man, or the time commitment being too demanding.

Conceptualising engagement with digital behaviour change interventions: a systematic review using principles from critical interpretive synthesis

“…Expectations are thought to be influential in that users are hypothesised to engage more if there is a match between their expectations and the goal of the DBCI [49, 73, 86, 88, 89]. Prior experiences of using other websites or apps, or of having tried face-to-face counselling (which may or may not have worked), might shape users’ expectations of what DBCIs can provide [90].…”

“…Results from interview studies indicate that participants believe that lack of personal relevance is a sufficient reason for dropping out from intervention trials [86, 92, 95, 105]. …”

“…The physical environment includes financial resources, material resources, time pressure, physical cues, location, the healthcare system and policy. Time [86, 92, 93, 114] and access to hardware or the Internet [30, 115] have been hypothesised to be positively associated with engagement.…”

“…Features that decrease the feeling of loneliness or that increase motivation through competition with others include online discussion forums, gamification elements such as leaderboards that show users where they rank in a gamified system, and peer-to-peer contact [125, 126]. Evidence indicates that DBCIs that provide access to such features are successful in getting users who report lower social support at baseline to engage [57, 127]; however, participants who reported higher levels of social support at baseline were found to be more likely to engage with the social elements of DBCIs across a few studies [68, 86, 91, 96]. …”

Outcome Predictors of Internet-Based Brief Sex Therapy for Sexual Dysfunctions in Heterosexual Men

“…Participants did not complete treatment because it required too much time, because their motivation was not high enough, because they suffered from medical conditions that contributed to erectile dysfunction, or because their partners were not interested in the treatment program (McCabe & Price, 2009).…”