Female sexual dysfunction high in type 1 diabetes

Sexual dysfunction is common among women with Type 1 diabetes, particularly among those who are married or depressed, a large prospective cohort study has found. The study found that 35% of women met the criteria for female sexual dysfunction, which the authors said was “moderately high” compared to the rest of the population. The most common symptoms the women reported were loss of libido (57%), problems with orgasm (51%), lubrication (47%) and arousal (38%), and pain during intercourse (21%). Univariate analysis found a positive association between sexual dysfunction and age (p=0.0041), marital status (p=0.0022), menopausal status (p= 0.0019), microvasculopathy ( = 0.0092), and depression (p= 0.0022). A multivariate analysis found that only depression (p= 0.004) and marital status (p= 0.003) remained statistically significant predictors of sexual dysfunction. “Similar to the annual evaluation of diabetes complications, women with type 1 diabetes should also be regularly queried about the presence of depressive symptoms, sexual function and sexual satisfaction,” the authors said. However, they noted that “although rates of sexual dysfunction in women are not dissimilar to those in men, the pattern of specific effects of diabetes on men and women is markedly different”. This is because while in men sexual dysfunction is strongly correlated with HbA1c and the cardiovascular and neuropathic complications of diabetes, this study found that female sexual disorder is most strongly and consistently correlated with depression and marital status. “This… suggests that compared with men, the sexual response in women with diabetes is more likely to be effected by the psychosocial aspects… than by the metabolic control or similar complications,” they said....