Prevalence of Sexual Dysfunction in Women with Type 1, 2 Diabetes and Thyroid Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study in Taif City, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background Women with diabetes mellitus or thyroid disorders are at risk of sexual dysfunction. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of female sexual dysfunction (FSD) in women with diabetes and/or thyroid disorders and the impact of disease control on the ASEX score. Methods A cross-sectional study for female patients who had a routine clinic visits was included. The Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) was used to evaluate for FSD. Those with a total score of ≥19 or scored ≥5 on any item or ≥4 on three items were considered to have FSD. Results A total of 253 female patients with a mean age of 39.1 ± 7.3 years were included. Two-thirds of the participants have no FSD. More than half (57.7%) of the participants had a strong desire for sex, and about 20% of the participants were unsatisfied with their orgasm. Compared to those with no FSD, those with FSD had lower BMI (P = 0.375), more likely to have a master’s degree or higher (P = 0.117), diabetes (P = 0.879), hypothyroidism (P = 0.625), diabetes-related microvascular and macrovascular complications (P = 0.049), higher HbA1c, fasting glucose, and TSH (P = 0.731, P = 0.161, and P = 0.561, respectively), lower total cholesterol and LDL (P = 0.368 and P = 0.339, respectively), and exercise more regularly (P = 0.929). Conclusion FSD was highly prevalent in our study population. Those with type 1 diabetes had the highest ASEX scores. We showed non-significant negative correlations between total ASEX score and both BMI and TSH, as well as a non-significant positive correlation between total ASEX score and both HbA1c and fasting glucose value.

Sexual Dysfunction in Diabetes Mellitus – An Observational Cohort Study

“…Our study observed high prevalence of SD among diabetic patients who were already living with any form of complication of diabetes such as diabetic nephropathy, neuropathy, or retinopathy, and our observations are well supported by the findings of various previous studies of Gandhi et al, [8] Vafaeimanesh et al, [20] Binmoammar et al, [21] Ugwu et al, [22] Alshehri et al, [23] and Gupta et al [24] Drive > overall satisfaction > arousal > orgasm > erection was type of SD among males and drive > orgasm > arousal > overall satisfaction > lubrication was type of SD among females in our study. However, contrary to our study, orgasm disorder and arousal were domains most affected in study by Getie Mekonnen et al [12] whereas lubrication and orgasm were domains most affected in study by James Paningbatan et al [11] With similarity to our study, drive, arousal, lubrication, satisfaction, and orgasm were domains affected in that order in study of Rahmanian et al [25] These differences may be due to various locoregional influences, intricating and difficult to understand definitions of various components of sexual cycle.…”

“…Our study observed high prevalence of SD among diabetic patients who were already living with any form of complication of diabetes such as diabetic nephropathy, neuropathy, or retinopathy, and our observations are well supported by the findings of various previous studies of Gandhi et al , [8] Vafaeimanesh et al, [20] Binmoammar et al, [21] Ugwu et al , [22] Alshehri et al, [23] and Gupta et al [24]…”

Sexual dysfunction in migraine-affected women: A prospective cross-sectional controlled study

“…It can be attributed also to past sexual history (as early sexual experience or early marriage before 18 years old, poor sexual education, exposure to pornographic content, and/or sexual assaults or violence) [3] , [4] . Sexual dysfunction also exhibited a strong correlation with smoking [5] , genitourinary infections, sexually transmitted diseases, neuroses [6] , multiple sclerosis, bronchial asthma [7] , diabetes type-I, Diabetes type-II [8] , infertility, and pelvic floor dysfunctions [9] . Women’s quality of life is substantially improved by screening, diagnosing, and controlling associated illness [10] .…”