Evaluation of Sexual Dysfunction in Male Diabetics

Lee, Seung Jae; Lee, Choong Hyun; Kim, Jin Il

Abstract

Male sexual function gradually decreases in parallel with aging. As the majority of diabetes mellitus develops later in life, mostly beyond the fifth decade, impotence in the diabetic patients can be ignored by physician as well as patients. Considerable evidence, however, indicates that diabetes mellitus does affect the male sexual function more significantly in diabetics than in non-diabetic is suspected. We studied 213 male diabetic patients and 233 non-diabetic male patients who were neither on medication nor have systemic diseases affecting sexual dysfunction. We analyzed the questionnaire regarding libido, erectile potency, intercourse frequency and partner's satisfaction, and we got several results as followings. In the diabetics, the prevalence of impotence was 20.4%, which was significantly higher than that(13.7%) of the control(p<0.01). Although the prevalence of impotence increases with aging in both groups, it was significantly higher in diabetic under the 7th decade and positively related to the disease duration. The erectile potency was also significantly lower in the diabetics. The scores of libido, intercourse frequency and partner's satisfaction were significantly lower in the diabetic compared with those in the control. The erectile potency was revealed to be higher in the patients whose blood glucose levels were controlled, compared with that of the patients with the uncontrolled levels. These results suggest that the prevalence of impotence is similar in Korean diabetic patients to those of the western countries, and the early treatment of diabetes mellitus is important for theprevention of impotence.