The Care Seeking Behavior of Diabetic Patients with Erectile Dysfunction in Cameroon

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the leading causes of Erectile Dysfunction (ED) in men of all ages. The unawareness, coupled with common myths surrounding ED, confound the attempts of patients to seek and receive treatment and the attempts of doctors to help them. Objective: The study was aimed to assess the quality of care sought and received by Diabetic patients with ED. Methods: A cross-sectional hospital-based study was carried out in the Diabetic Units of the Limbe and Buea Regional Hospitals involving 322 male diabetic patients and aged over 21 years. Data analysis was done using Stata and R version 3.5.3. Results: The mean age of the participants was 55 years with a prevalence of ED of 78.92%. Only 37.40% of participants with ED sought care for it. Main barriers to care-seeking were health ignorance, health misinformation and fear of stigma. Majority (85.71%) of those who sought care sought medical care. Respondents correctly informed about diabetic ED and those regularly screened by their physician were more likely to seek medical care over non-medical care (p = 0.0021, p = 0.0013). Those who sought medical care reported higher improvement in ED symptoms over those who sought non-medical or combined forms of care (p = 0.0183). Conclusion: Both physician and patient-initiated measures are needed to reduce the prevalence and improve awareness, recognition and medical care of this condition.