Development and evaluation of an abridged, 5-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) as a diagnostic tool for erectile dysfunction

An abridged five-item version of the 15-item International Index of Erectil e Function (IIEF) was developed (IIEF-5) to diagnose the presence and sever ity of erectile dysfunction (ED). The five items selected were based on abi lity to identify the presence or absence of ED and on adherence to the Nati onal Institute of Health's definition of ED. These items focused on erectil e function and intercourse satisfaction. For 1152 men (1036 with ED, 116 co ntrols) analyzed, a receiver operating characteristic curve indicated that the IIEF-5 is an excellent diagnostic test. Based on equal misclassificatio n rates of ED and no ED, a cutoff score of 21 (range of scores, 5-25) discr iminated best (sensitivity = 0.98, specificity = 0.88). ED was classified i nto five severity levels, ranging from none (22-25) through severe (5-7). S ubstantial agreement existed between the predicted and 'true' ED classes (w eighted kappa = 0.82). These data suggest that the IIEF-5 possesses favorab le properties for detecting the presence and severity of ED.