Quality of sexual life and its correlates among men with diabetes mellitus and erectile dysfunction attending a tertiary hospital in Owerri, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is common among men with Diabetes mellitus (DM), with a negative impact on their sexual
satisfaction. There is a paucity of data on this in our locality. Hence this study was to determine the quality of sexual life, its correlates and predictors among such men.
Methodology: One hundred diabetic men with ED as well as 100 without ED were recruited consecutively. Questionnaires were used to
collect relevant information and assess their quality of sexual life. This was followed by a focused physical examination and anthropometric measurements. Blood samples were collected for relevant investigations. Data analysis was with SPSS version 25 while p-value < 0.05 was considered significant.
Result: Participants with ED had a mean IIEF-5 score of 11.97 ± 4.73 while those without ED had 24.06 ± 1.10 (p = 0.000). Among the DM
participants with ED and those without ED, their mean SQoL-M scores were 44.14 ± 10.85% and 89.73 ± 16.23% respectively (p = 0.000).
Correlation between SQoL-M scores and IIEF-5 scores showed (r = 0.374, p = 0.000) while that between SQoL-M scores and HbA1c
showed (r = - 0.205, p = 0.040) in diabetic participants with ED. IIEF-5 scores and HbA1c levels were observed to be the only predictors of
SQoL scores among diabetic participants with ED.
Conclusions: There is a significant difference in the quality of sexual life between diabetic men with ED and those without ED. While there is a positive correlation between SQoL-M and IIEF-5 scores, there is a negative correlation between SQoL-M scores and HbA1c levels among diabetic men with ED. IIEF-5 scores and HbA1c values are predictors of quality of sexual life among diabetic men with ED. Thus, there is a need for evaluation of quality of sexual life among diabetic men with ED.