Prevalence of sexual dysfunction and related factors among diabetes mellitus patients in Southwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus causes multiple medical, psychological and sexual problems in both men and women. Sexual dysfunction is one of those problems that lead to a strong social and psychological problem which adversely affect marital relation and treatment outcome. The issue has not been well studied in Ethiopia; therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and factors related to sexual dysfunction in adult patients with diabetes mellitus. METHODS: Facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among adults with diabetes mellitus on follow-up at diabetic clinics of Mizan-Tepi University Teaching Hospital and Tepi General Hospital. A consecutive sampling technique was employed to select 423 study participants, and data were collected through interviewer-administered questionnaire and patients’ medical chart review. Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire-fourteen items (CSFQ-14) was used to measure sexual dysfunction. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression analyses were performed. Two tail tests at α of less 0.05 were used as a level of significance. RESULTS: A total of 398 diabetic patients were interviewed, with a 94% response rate. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was 53.3%. Age of above 41 years (AOR: 3.98, 95% CI 2.32–6.85), lack of formal education (AOR: 3.20, 95% CI 1.60–6.39), divorced or widowed (AOR: 5.28, 95% CI 2.35–11.86), type 2 DM (AOR: 4.52, 95% CI 2.17–9.42), depression (AOR: 4.05, 95% CI 2.32–7.10), complications or co-morbidity (AOR: 2.05, 95% CI 1.18–3.58), and not doing physical activity (AOR: 1.62, 95% CI; 1.47–1.77) were significantly associated with sexual dysfunction among diabetes patients. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was as high as reports from other studies. Therefore, health care providers should include the issue of sexual health in their routine discussions with adult diabetes mellitus patients. Presence of depression, not doing physical activity and having complications or co-morbidity are modifiable factors associated with sexual dysfunction; therefore, they should be attended during care addressing sexual dysfunction.