The willingness of Saudi men with type 2 diabetes to discuss erectile dysfunction with their physicians and the factors that influence this

Abstract

ObjectivesThe study’s objectives were to find out the proportion of Saudi men with type 2 diabetes who have been asked by their physicians about erectile dysfunction (ED) in the last year, to determine the willingness of Saudi men with type 2 diabetes to discuss ED, and to explore the factors that may be related to their willingness to discuss ED with their physicians.MethodsThis study employed a cross-sectional survey design using a quantitative self-administered questionnaire among 309 Saudi men with type 2 diabetes. The study was conducted in hospital-based primary care clinics at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the period from July to September 2015.ResultsThe mean age of the patients was 60.2 years with the mean duration of diabetes approximately 12.5 years. Few of the patients (9.7%) had been asked by their physicians about ED within the last year of attending the clinics although most patients (84.8%) were willing to discuss this issue. The presence of ED among the respondents was 89%. Two participants’ characteristics were associated with a willingness to discuss ED with the physicians. These characteristics were age above 60 (OR = 0.25, 95% CI: 0.11–0.55), and having severe ED (OR = 0.26, 95% CI: 0.08–0.85). The respondents’ main barriers to discussing ED with their physicians were embarrassing the doctor, ED is a personal issue, too old or too sick to address ED issues now, no effective treatment available, and the doctor is too young to discuss ED with.ConclusionsMost patients who have type 2 diabetes are not asked about ED within the last year of attendance even though most are willing to discuss it with their physicians. Being older and suffering more severe ED will result in being less willing to discuss ED with their doctor. Further research is needed to explore the barriers which prevent physicians from discussing ED with their patients who have diabetes.

Men Health Seeking Behaviour: A literature review

“…The particular disease is incurable, causing them to feel hopeless and refuse treatment, as in HIV cases (Lim et al, 2019). The feeling of embarrassment or thinking it is a personal issue to discuss with the medical provider is significantly associated with unwillingness to seek treatment for sexual dysfunction (Almigbal & Schattner, 2018). However, those with inherent good healthconscious drive would not wait for a symptom to worsen, encouraging help-seeking faster (Saab et al, 2017).…”

“…Perceived need is how people view their general health and functional state, how they experience symptoms of illness, pain, and worries about their health, and whether or not they judge their problems to be of sufficient importance and magnitude to seek professional help (Andersen, 1995). Men who perceive the disease symptoms as severe, painful, troublesome & burdensome to their daily life will be more likely to seek treatment (Almigbal & Schattner, 2018;Fan et al, 2017;Rubach et al, 2019).…”

Gaps in the management of diabetes in Asia: A need for improved awareness and strategies in men's sexual health

“…Sexual dysfunction is a sensitive issue and is rarely openly discussed in real‐life practice in Asia 92 . There are several reasons why patients are reluctant to divulge their sexual problems such as embarrassment, social taboo, misconception that sexual dysfunction has low medical importance, false perception of no effective treatment for sexual problems, or that the doctor is too young to discuss erectile dysfunction with 9 , 93 , 94 , 95 . In China, sexual health is considered as lewd and it is inappropriate to discuss about one's sexual behavior 96 .…”

“…There are also barriers at the level of health care providers. Nearly 67–90% of males with sexual dysfunction were not being assessed about their sexual dysfunction during physician visits 6 , 93 , 101 , 102 , 103 . Most patients prefer their physicians to initiate discussion on their sexual health, rather than providing this information voluntarily 94 .…”

Epidemiology and Treatment Barriers of Patients With Erectile Dysfunction Using an Online Prescription Platform: A Cross-Sectional Study

“… 7 ED is commonly missed in patient evaluations, either due to a lack of consideration, false patient beliefs, or embarrassment of both clinician and patient. 8 , 9 This lack of consideration is aggravated in at-risk populations as studies demonstrate high ED rates but no awareness of the actual disease in this patient group. 10 Further treatment barriers are time and geographical 11 issues that prevent patients from seeking treatment, especially in rural areas.…”