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Assessment of erectile dysfunction and associated psychological distress in Chinese men with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

To estimate the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) and the level of psychological distress and to assess the inter-associations of them among type 2 diabetic men, a cross-sectional observational study of 335 men with type 2 diabetes and 284 men without diabetes from a hospital in Hefei city, Anhui province, China, was conducted. The erectile function was assessed using the five-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function scale (IIEF-5). The evaluation of psychological distress was completed using a self-administered questionnaire, the Symptom Checklist 90–Revised (SCL-90-R). In this study, ED was more prevalent in type 2 diabetic men than that in the control group (58.51% vs 26.76%, P<0.001). All subscale scores of SCL-90-R were significantly higher in the group with type 2 diabetes (N=335) than those in the group without type 2 diabetes (N=284). All scores of SCL-90-R subscales were inversely correlated with IIEF-5 score. ED and psychological distress were strongly correlated in type 2 diabetic patients. Clinicians should be aware of the association between ED and psychological distress when treating men with type 2 diabetes.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Fund 81501244.

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Correspondence to Q Zhang.

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Chen, S., Peng, D., Xu, X. et al. Assessment of erectile dysfunction and associated psychological distress in Chinese men with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Int J Impot Res 29, 210–214 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijir.2017.25

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