Jakarta (ANTARA) – An endocrine-metabolic diabetes specialist doctor from Udayana University, Dr. dr. Made Ratna Saraswati, SpPD-KEMD, FINASIM said diabetes can cause sexual dysfunction in women as evidenced by their low sexual function index.
“A study I made on women with diabetes showed that their sexual function index was low,” said Ratna in a health discussion held by the Diabetes Initiative Indonesia in Jakarta, Sunday.
Ratna explained that according to the American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), female sexual dysfunction includes loss of interest or sexual arousal, impaired orgasm, and/or pain during penetration.
“Called dysfunction is if he is persistent, continues, causes stress and anxiety, and has a negative impact on a relationship,” added Ratna.
From a sexual dysfunction study conducted on diabetic women in 2008, Ratna said that the arousal domain had the lowest score, namely 35.5 percent. Other domains also have low scores below 50, namely desire 41.83 percent, lubrication 42 percent, orgasm 39.5 percent, and pain 48.5 percent.
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To assess sexual dysfunction in women, Ratna said it was not easy because there were no practical diagnostic instruments that could evaluate it empirically.
However, there are two ways to assess sexual dysfunction in women, namely by objective and subjective examination.
Objective examinations include thermography or measuring temperature, measuring circulation and blood vessel dilation, and measuring vaginal pH. While subjective examination is done through filling out a questionnaire.
Meanwhile, further research is needed to assess how diabetes can cause sexual dysfunction in women.
Ratna does not deny that sexual dysfunction in women has not received as much attention in the medical world as sexual dysfunction in men. Apart from being rarely complained of by patients and difficult to assess, the research is still relatively small when compared with sexual dysfunction in men.
“This is rarely complained of by patients because of cultural factors, embarrassment, especially if the doctor is a man. Then when it’s been talked about, it’s difficult to judge, there are also few therapeutic options, and there’s also very little research,” said Ratna.
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2023-06-04 12:37:48
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