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Tools / Quiz · SHIM / IIEF-5, Rosen et al., 1999

The five questions
a urologist would ask.

The Sexual Health Inventory for Men is the abridged five-item form of the International Index of Erectile Function, validated by Rosen and colleagues in 1999 and used in most ED trials and clinics. Score it honestly over the past six months. The bands below are the published ones.

1. Over the past 6 months, how do you rate your confidence that you could get and keep an erection?
2. When you had erections with sexual stimulation, how often were they hard enough for penetration?
3. During intercourse, how often were you able to maintain your erection after penetration?
4. During intercourse, how difficult was it to maintain your erection to completion?
5. When you attempted intercourse, how often was it satisfactory for you?

SHIM SCORE

—answer all five
Severity band, not a cause. ED telehealth providers compared ↗ · Check low-T symptoms too ↗

How it’s scored

Total = sum of five items (1–25; items 2–5 may score 0 for no activity) 22–25 no erectile dysfunction 17–21 mild 12–16 mild to moderate 8–11 moderate 5–7 (or less) severe Rosen et al., 1999

Assumptions and limits

  • A score is a severity band, not a cause. ED is commonly vascular, hormonal, neurological, medication-related or psychological, and often more than one.
  • New or worsening ED in men over 40 is associated with cardiovascular disease and merits a medical evaluation beyond a prescription.
  • The instrument was validated for men who have attempted intercourse in the period; zeros for no activity lower the total.
Read this first This tool does arithmetic on numbers you enter, or scores answers you give. It is not a diagnosis, a prescription or a treatment recommendation. Take the result to a licensed clinician.

The instrument behind this quiz

  1. Rosen RC, Cappelleri JC, Smith MD, et al.. 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.Int J Impot Res 1999.PubMed 10637462 · doi:10.1038/sj.ijir.3900472
  2. Cappelleri JC, Rosen RC. The Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM): a 5-year review of research and clinical experience.Int J Impot Res 2005.PubMed 15875061 · doi:10.1038/sj.ijir.3901327
  3. Cappelleri JC, Siegel RL, Glasser DB, et al.. Relationship between patient self-assessment of erectile dysfunction and the sexual health inventory for men.Clin Ther 2001.PubMed 11726005 · doi:10.1016/s0149-2918(01)80138-7
  4. Rosen RC, Cappelleri JC. The sexual health inventory for men (IIEF-5): reply to Vroege.Int J Impot Res 2000.PubMed 11416839 · doi:10.1038/sj.ijir.3900615
  5. Cappelleri JC, Rosen RC. Reply to 'The sexual health inventory for men (IIEF-5)' by JA Vroege.Int J Impot Res 1999.PubMed 10637468 · doi:10.1038/sj.ijir.3900481

Literature retrieved from PubMed on October 18, 2026, favouring human studies and reviews. Numbered markers in the text show which paper supports which statement; uncited entries are background reading.

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