Sexual Dysfunction in Middle Aged and Older People with Diabetes

Context: Sexual dysfunction is an under-recognized complication of diabetes and rarely addressed. Objective: To identify attitudes toward sex and to define the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and assess associated factors among middle-aged and older individuals with diabetes. Dataset/Population Studied: Using data from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project, we identified individuals who self-reported diabetes and assessed their survey responses related to attitudes toward sex (mailed surveys) and sexual dysfunction (based on face-to-face interviews). Participants were survivors from an earlier round of the study (57-85yo in 2005-2006) and individuals recruited in 2015-2016 (50-67yo in 2015). We excluded individuals who did not answer a single question about sexual dysfunction. Study Design and Analysis: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis and applied weights to account for complex survey design. We examined the prevalence of importance of sex and sexual dysfunction and used multivariate logistic regression to assess factors (age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, marital status, and self-reported health) associated with sexual dysfunction. A 2-sided p- value