In a world where sex and intimacy have become increasingly separate, it is heart-warming to find one area at least where the two overlap even if it is in the decidedly un-sexy realm of erectile dysfunction (ED).

According to the results of a survey unveiled at a men's health forum in Shanghai this week, the most common influence on Chinese men who made the decision to get treatment for ED was talking the problem over with their partner.

The survey also found that, in Asia at least, as men's consideration for their partners' sexual needs increased, so did the likelihood they would seek help for ED.

Sponsored by German pharmaceutical giant Bayer, the worldwide survey questioned almost 11,000 Asian men, including more than 4,000 from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

Of the Chinese men over 40 interviewed, 4 percent reported ED problems, and of those between ages of 60 and 70, 11 percent.

Increased discussion of sex within society was evidenced in the survey as 61 percent of Chinese men seeking treatment for ED said they were encouraged to do so by what they had seen or heard in the media or on the Internet.

But there's hint of suspicion that macho pride may have affected the survey's findings: While 16 percent of Western subjects questioned reported ED, in Chinese subjects that figure is just 6 percent.

Bayer has suggested the vast difference is due more to the reluctance of Chinese men to face up to the problem rather than a real variation in incidence.

The survey's results were coupled with other findings that just 37.4 percent of Chinese men and 38.5 percent of Chinese women are happy with their sex lives.

The figures are a marked improvement from a study last year which put the figure of sexual satisfaction at an aggregate of just 22 percent for both sexes, but still suggests many Chinese couples have little to whoopee about.

Sex surveys in the country have been a touchy subject since a 2004 Internet based study by condom manufacturer Durex concluded Chinese people boasted an average of almost 20 sexual partners.

The result was both acclaimed as evidence of China's growing sexual liberalism and condemned as wildly inaccurate.

Last year's Durex study saw the figure cut to three partners.

Xia Guomei, a sexology expert with Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences told China Daily that many sex surveys are not conducted scientifically and are often based on subjective criteria.

"Sexual satisfaction is a feeling that is impossible to measure empirically. There are so many factors that can influence sexual satisfaction and everyone has a different frame of reference," she said.

Easy access to pornography means that more Chinese are comparing their own sex lives to what they see in explicit videos and magazines, with many feeling that reality does not live up to what they have seen, Xia explained.

"Men and women compare themselves with porn stars and as a result, they are disappointed with their own sex lives."

Xia urged ED sufferers to seek treatment as they would if any other part of their body was not working properly. She blamed the pressures of modern urban living for some problems, saying that people living in smaller towns were happier with their sex lives than those living in large cities.

And while the focus of studies has been on men's ability to perform, women can and should play a key role in improving their own and their partners' sex life, she added.

"It is impossible for a husband to have 365 new wives in a year, but he can have one wife with 365 new attractions," she said.

(China Daily March 2, 2006)