Original title: Aphrodisiac Use and Male Sexual Health in Ghana: Prevalence, Attitudes, and Sociocultural Determinants
Researchers surveyed 1,196 men aged 18 and older in selected districts of Ghana. About a third said they had used aphrodisiacs before, and around four in ten of those users said they were using them currently. Men most often said they used them to make sex last longer or improve erections. Friends commonly recommended the products, and pharmacies were the most common place to get them. Use was linked to several personal and social factors, but the survey cannot show that those factors caused it.
Imagine hearing from friends that a certain product will help with a private concern, then finding it at a nearby pharmacy. It can be hard to know whether the advice is reliable or what risks the product may carry. In this paper, that everyday path—from friends’ recommendations to buying a product—helps explain how social expectations and access relate to men’s aphrodisiac use in Ghana.
Men’s choices about sexual enhancement can be shaped by peer advice, expectations about sexual performance, and concerns about sexual problems. The findings point to a need for reliable information and confidential sexual health services, alongside stronger regulation of these products.
The survey covered men aged 18 and older in selected districts of Ghana, so the abstract does not establish that its findings apply to all men in Ghana or elsewhere. Because it was cross-sectional, it identifies factors associated with current use but cannot show that they caused it. The abstract does not report product-specific safety or effectiveness.
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Aphrodisiac Use and Male Sexual Health in Ghana: Prevalence, Attitudes, and Sociocultural Determinants — Paapa Yaw Asante, Samuel Danquah, Alfred Adjei et al. — Sexuality Research and Social Policy — doi:10.1007/s13178-026-01430-6
Abstract licence: CC BY
Explanation generated by Synthesis from the abstract — it is not the original paper.