ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Clinical Diabetes
Clinical characteristics of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with erectile dysfunction
Provisionally accepted
- Jiangsu Provincial People’s Hospital, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China
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Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a prevalent metabolic disorder and erectile dysfunction (ED) is a common complication among male patients with T2DM. This study aimed to comprehensively assess the prevalence, severity, clinical correlates, and emotional comorbidities of ED in male patients with T2DM. Methods: A total of 208 male patients with T2DM were selected. The demographic information and T2DM related clinical data were collected. The scales of HAMA, HAMD, and sexual function questionnaires including International Erectile Function Index (IIEF-5), Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT) and Arizona Sexual Experience Scale (ASEX) were evaluated. Statistical analysis was conducted based on the patient’s demographic information, clinical indicators, and scale data. Results: The prevalence of ED in male patients with T2DM was 67.8%. The prevalences of mild, moderate and severe ED were 57.2%, 5.3%, 5.3%, respectively. Compared with the group of T2DM, higher age, lower IIEF score, higher PEDT score, higher ASEX score, increased left and right pulse wave velocity (PWV) were detected in the T2DMED group. In addition, age and fasting insulin had positive impacts on the development of ED in T2DM patients. HbA1C, age and educational level had impacts on the severity of ED. The severity of ED was positively correlated with low-density lipoprotein (LDL) level, age, left ankle brachial index (ABI), left and right PWV. There were negative correlations between IIEF-5 scores and HAMA, HAMD scores in T2DM patients. PEDT scores were positively correlated with HAMA and HAMD scores while ASEX scores were positively correlated with HAMA scores. The HAMA scores were positively correlated with the duration of T2DM and HAMA scores had negative effects on IIEF scores. Conclusion: Mild ED is more common in T2DM patients with more serious sexual dysfunction and higher risk of diabetic vasculopathy. Higher age and fasting insulin level are associated with the development of T2DMED while HbA1C, age and education level affect the severity of ED, with higher levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and age, high risk of diabetic vasculopathy indicating more severe ED. The sexual dysfunction was positively associated with both anxiety and depression, especially in patients with higher age.
Keywords: Anxiety, Clinical features, Depression, Erectile Dysfunction, type 2 diabetes mellitus
Received: 04 Jan 2026; Accepted: 09 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Cao, Zhang, Jiang, Fang, Zhang and Jiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yele Zhang
Lin Jiang
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