Comparison of home and laboratory based monitoring of NPT using the Rigiscan; a preliminary report.

Laboratory based and home based monitoring of nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) with the Rigiscan device was compared in a consecutive series of 100 men monitored in the laboratory, and a further consecutive series of 100 men monitored at home. Recordings at home were significantly shorter and involved more interruptions than laboratory based records. With subgroups, matched for diagnosis or the reporting of waking erections as well as age, laboratory monitoring tended to produce more sustained erections. However, in spite of the matching of subgroups, this trend may have resulted from aetiological rather than methodological differences, and further comparison of the two methods in the same subjects is now warranted. In the meantime, home monitoring should be used with diagnostic caution.