Erectile Dysfunction as an Early Marker of Elevated Blood Glucose Levels and Blood Pressure in Malawian Men in a Rural Setting

Abstract

Background: Erectile dysfunction has been found to have strong associations with chronic cardiovascular conditions like hypertension and diabetes. We sought to establish if erectile dysfunction can be used as an early marker of chronic conditions i.e., diabetes mellitus and hypertension in a rural setting in Malawian District of Blantyre. Methods: Hundred and thirty six married men between ages of 40 and 60 were interviewed to assess their erectile function and to identify other risk factors like smoking, drinking and family history of diabetes and hypertension. Blood pressure, fasting blood glucose levels as well as height and weight measurements were taken to calculate the body mass index. Data was analyzed on GraphPad PrismTM 4. Student’s t-test was used for statistical analysis. Differences were regarded statistically significant if p<0.05. Results: We found out that out of 136 participants 49 had erectile dysfunction representing a prevalence of 36% with an average erectile function score of 18.81 (mild erectile dysfunction). Out of 49 participants with erectile dysfunction, 82% had mild, 18% had moderate and none had severe erectile dysfunction. There was higher prevalence of smoking, drinking and people with family history of hypertension and diabetes in people with erectile dysfunction as compared to the group of people without erectile dysfunction. There was no statistically significant difference in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, body mass index and fasting blood sugar levels between people with erectile dysfunction and people without but fasting blood sugar levels tend to be higher in people with erectile dysfunction. Conclusion: This study has therefore demonstrated that mild to moderate erectile dysfunction could be an early marker of elevated fasting glucose levels in Malawian men aged between 40 and 60 years.