Prevalence, Risk Factors and Predictors of Diabetes-related Sexual Dysfunction

Background: The prevalence and complications of diabetes are currently on the rise, so this study investigated the prevalence, risk factors and predictors of diabetic sexual dysfunction (SD).

Methods: The study was cross-sectional multicentred. Patients were randomly selected from the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and Tamale Teaching Hospital. Socio-demographic, medical history, lifestyle and physical characteristics of subjects, as well as sexual dysfunction (SD) characteristics were investigated, using a structured questionnaire. Blood samples were also taken from subjects and analyzed for total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), serum creatinine and serum urea. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was also determined, using the serum creatinine. Statistics were performed using SPSS version 22.

Results: Of the 100 people with diabetes, 31% were males and 69% were females. The mean age was 53.82±13.754 years. It was found that 54.8% of the males and 68.1% of females had diabetic SD. The prevalence of severely abnormal SD was 6.5% and 4.3% in males and females, respectively. In a univariate analysis, none of the independent variables was associated with SD in both men and women.

Conclusion: This study has shown that the prevalence of SD is high among diabetics.