Prevalence and Risk Factors of Erectile Dysfunction in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Erbil-Iraq

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Erectile dysfunction is a highly prevalent disease. It affects multiple aspects of health and can have a serious adverse effect on both the patients and their partners. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder associated with many chronic complications including erectile dysfunction. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence and risk factors of erectile dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study had been done on 100 adult male patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, attending endocrinology outpatient at Erbil Teaching Hospital between June and December 2021, and another 50 age-matched non-diabetic controls. Each one of them underwent detailed history taking, clinical examination, and relevant biochemical study. Results: Sixty-three diabetic patients (63%) had erectile dysfunction compared to 6 nondiabetic subjects (12%). Mild, mild-to-moderate, moderate, and severe erectile dysfunction among these patients were 17 (27%), 21 (33.3%), 16 (25.4%), and 9 (14.3%), respectively. Among diabetics, erectile dysfunction was significantly associated with age, obesity, glycated hemoglobin level, duration of diabetes, presence of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and neuropathy (p= 0.001, 0.005, <0.001, 0.038, 0.02, 0.017 and 0.025 respectively) Conclusion: Erectile dysfunction was significantly more prevalent in patients with type 2 diabetes than in non-diabetic patients. Being older than 50 years old, obesity, glycated hemoglobin level higher than 9, diabetes more than 10 years duration, presence of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and neuropathy were significantly in favor of a higher prevalence of erectile dysfunction in this group.