Prevalence of and risk factors for erectile dysfunction in Hong Kong diabetic patients

Aim To estimate the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) in Chinese diab etic men and to identify its risk factors, we carried out a cross-sectional survey of 500 Chinese diabetic men attending a community hospital diabetic clinic in Hong Kong. Methods Patients were interviewed and asked to report on their experience o f ED as defined in the National Institutes of Health Consensus Conference 1 993. Diabetic complications and patient clinical data were obtained from pa tients' medical records. Results Of the 486 patients studied, the prevalence of ED was 63.6% (95% co nfidence interval 59.3-67.9%). The prevalence of ED increased with age, fro m 33.3% to 73.8% for diabetic men aged between 21 and 80 years (P = 0.001). Severity of ED also increased with age. Among diabetic men with ED, there was no report of complete ED for diabetic men aged 40 years and below, wher eas the proportion of patients with complete ED increased from 7.4% to 71.1 % between the ages of 41 and 80 years. ED occurred early in the course of t he disease, with a prevalence increasing from 56.0% in men with diabetes me llitus (DM) for < 5 years to 72.0% in those with DM for > 20 years (P = 0.0 38). Duration of DM was also associated with severity; the proportion of pa tients with complete ED increased from 30.8% for those with DM for < 5 year s to 72.2% for those with DM for greater than or equal to 20 years (P < 0.0 01). Using logistic regression analysis, DM duration, diabetic complication s including retinopathy, abnormal albuminuria and sensory neuropathy, and h igher level of education were associated with a higher risk of ED. By polyc hotomous logistic regression, age was the only factor found to be associate d with the severity of ED, after adjusting for other variables. Conclusions Chinese diabetic patients have a prevalence of self-reported ED that appears to be higher than that of Western populations. This may be du e to cultural differences and the association of abnormal albuminuria and h ypertension.