Abstract

Diabetes mellitus (DM) type II is one of the systemic disorders most frequently associated with erectile dysfunction (ED). It has been estimated that as many as 75% of men with DM will be confronted with the problem in about 5 – 10 years earlier than control. Equally, the incidence of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) is high and it has been shown that greater than 20% of the population has IGT, while only 10% of the population develops frank DM in their life time. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of ED in both impaired fasting blood glucose (IFG) and early diabetes mellitus (DM) in a Nigerian tertiary diabetes treatment centre. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. A total of 420 subjects were recruited for the study by systematic random sampling method. Erectile function domain (ED) was assessed by a respondent self–rated ‘one through five questions’ of the international index of erectile function (IIEF). Analysis was done using the glucose oxidase method. IFG was significantly associated with ED (p < 0.05) as many (56.5%) of the subjects with IFG also had ED. Also, diabetes mellitus was significantly associated with (p < 0.05) ED. IFG like IGT are not clinical entities, but rather risk categories for future diabetes with much earlier medical presentation such as ED.This finding has important clinical implications for primary care physicians asking questions about sexual health with a dysglycemic screening of ED group for a modification to prevent the disease progression.

Key words: Erectile dysfunction, impaired fasting glucose, diabetes mellitus.