Rwandan researchers have found the prevalence of erectile dysfunction in male patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).

Erectile dysfunction is the inability to develop or maintain an erection of the penis during sexual activity, and it is the third most common complication of diabetes mellitus for men.

The study was carried out by authors namely Alain Habumuremyi, Janvier Mukiza,  Sylvain Habimana, Koto-te-Nyiwa Ngbolua,  Emmanuel Niyigaba and Leopold Bitunguhari.

Diabetes mellitus is potentially identified as a major cause of disruption of normal sexual function in both men and women.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of erectile dysfunction in diabetic men in Rwanda with the focus on one private clinic (Fraternity Clinic) and 3 different public hospitals — namely University Teaching Hospital of Kigali (CHUK), University Teaching Hospital of Butare (CHUB), and Masaka District Hospital (MDH).

Data was collected over a period of three months during which 125 patients (meeting inclusion criteria) were screened and included in the final analysis. 

Male in-patients and out-patients between 20 and 70 years old, with a new or previous diagnosed type I or type II diabetes mellitus were the only ones included in this study.

All patients included in this study presented the most common clinical signs of diabetes mellitus, such as high blood sugar level, polyuria, unexplained weight loss, or polydipsia.

Only 28.8% were diagnosed with DM more than 10 years ago and 3.2% were smokers, 1.6% were heavy alcohol users, 40.8% were hypertensive, 3 .2% had history of a stroke, 24% had peripheral neuropathy, 57.6% had self-reported HbA1C, 36.8% were taking hypertensive drugs and 7.2% had history of pelvic surgery.

The study findings recently released in Rwanda Medical Journal found that 62.4% of patients had erectile dysfunction.

Of these 21.6% had mild erectile dysfunction, 17.6% had mild to moderate erectile dysfunction, 15.2 % had severe erectile dysfunction, 8% had moderate erectile dysfunction and 37.6% had no dysfunction.

The findings say that prevalence of erectile dysfunction in the study was found to increase with age.

In the study, the determinants of erectile dysfunction were; duration of diabetes mellitus, health insurance, site or health facility, level of education, and alcohol use.

The prevalence of erectile dysfunction due to diabetes mellitus worldwide occurs at 30% to 90% for diabetic men and also affects teens.

Erectile dysfunction prevalence due to diabetes mellitus has been reported as 52% in the USA, 34% in Australia, 26% in Japan, 19.2% in Germany, 63% in Egypt and 54% in Morocco [5-8s] and is significantly higher compared to those without diabetes mellitus.

The study in Rwanda was, however, limited by Rwanda’s’ cultural barriers. The cultural barrier was due to reluctance of patients to talk about their sexual history.

This, hence, recommends Rwanda’s Ministry of Health to do more education regarding diabetes mellitus and its related complications including erectile dysfunction.

More effort needs to be put into screening and treatment as part of follow-up for diabetic patients, using the first five questions of international index of erectile function-5 (IIEF-5) and management of erectile dysfunction as well as diagnosing diabetes mellitus among all patients with erectile dysfunction are highly recommended.