IMPOTENCE IN ETHIOPIAN DIABETIC MEN

Prevalence of impotence was assessed among 292 consecutive diabetic me n attending the Tikur Anbessa Hospital, diabetic clinic, The mean age was 41.4+/-15.5. years (range 18-86 years), One hundred and forty nine (51.6%) were type I and 143 (49%) were type II patients. The mean dur ation of diabetes was 9.9+/-6.7 years and 37.7% had known long term di abetic complications. The overall prevalence of impotence was 48.7%, T he mean duration of impotence was 3.5+/-3.4 years. In the majority of the cases, impotence started after diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, Man y of the patients (79.1%) had never complained to physicians and 59.2% of the patients did not know that impotence is a complication of diab etes mellitus, All except 10 patients (7.5%) had libido. Impotence is significantly higher in type II as compared to type I patients (94/143 versus 40/132, p<0.001) and in patients with complications than witho ut (76/104 versus 54/159, p<0.001), The mean duration of diabetes mell itus is significantly higher in patients with impotence than without i mpotence (12.3 years versus 8.1 years, p<0.001), We conclude that impo tence is a common and significant problem in our diabetic men and we r ecommend further study to assess its social and psychiatric impact.