Identification of Factors Related to Sexual Dysfunction in Type 2 Diabetic Women

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the most common metabolic diseases among women. Sexual dysfunction (SD) is a complication in patients with T2DM that has received less attention among women than men. This study aimed to assess the factors related to female SD in T2DM patients.

120 women with T2DM who referred to the Yazd Diabetes Center in 2019-2020 were selected. Female sexual function index (FSFI) as a valid questionnaire was used. Neuropathy, nephropathy, retinopathy, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes medication, Hb1Ac, age, and duration of diabetes as factors related to SD were assessed. The T-test and chi-square tests were used to analyze the data by SPSS 22 software.

The mean age of participants was 48.40 (±7.35). The SD was impaired in 85.8% of subjects and none of the participants showed a level of good function in any of the sexual domains. There was a significant relationship between SD and neuropathy (P= 0.005), hyperlipidemia (P= 0.007), hypertension (P= 0.015), diabetes medication (P= 0.005), age (P= 0.0001), and duration of diabetes (P= 0.0001). There was no significant relationship between SD and retinopathy (P= 0.565), nephropathy (P= 0.288), and Hb1Ac (P= 0.92).

The frequency of SD in females with T2DM remarkably was high and the factors including age, duration of diabetes, diabetes medication, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and neuropathy were identified as factors related to SD.