medwireNews: About a third of people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes report some form of sexual dysfunction, with diabetes symptoms being an underlying factor for both men and women, research shows.
In an online survey as part of the Diabetes MILES study (Flanders), sexual dysfunction was found in 32.2% of 174 men with type 1 diabetes, 39.7% of 237 men with type 2 diabetes, 36.0 % of 242 women with type 1 diabetes reported diabetes and 26.2% of 103 women with type 2 diabetes.
When presenting the results at the ATTD 2021 virtual conference, Jolijn Van Cauwenberghe (Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium) noted that participants were only asked about sexual function if they stated that they had been sexually active within the last 4 weeks, “what likely to lead to an underestimation of sexual dysfunction ”. . “
The most commonly reported problems were erectile dysfunction and orgasmic dysfunction in men and decreased sexual desire, lubrication problems and orgasmic dysfunction in women. In general, the same topics prevailed regardless of whether the respondents had type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
The exception was erectile dysfunction, which was reported more frequently by men with type 2 diabetes than type 1 diabetes, but the speaker attributed this to the higher average age of the former group.
For men as a whole, older age, longer duration of diabetes, and larger waist circumference were the only clinical parameters that were significantly associated with a higher likelihood of sexual dysfunction. The only associated factor in women was antidepressant use.
In addition, women with sexual dysfunction were significantly more likely to have poor well-being (WHO-5 score <13) and high levels of anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder-7 score ≥10) than those without.
And in both sexes, people with sexual dysfunction were significantly more likely to have diabetes (Problem Areas In Diabetes Score ≥40) than those without, with 20.0% versus 11.9% in men and 36.0% versus 21.2% in women.
However, the moderator noted that the online nature of the study may have skewed the cohort towards younger people more concerned with their diabetes, and that relying on self-reports may lead to more “socially desirable” responses.
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ATTD 2021; 2nd – 5th June
