Sexual dysfunction in diabetes. A survey of physicians' responses to patients' problems.

Results of this study suggest that physicians generally attend more to the sexual functioning of male diabetic patients than to that of female diabetic patients. Additionally, they view the men as more troubled than the women by sexual dysfunction. These physicians also were more likely to refer a male diabetic patient for further evaluation or treatment of the sexual dysfunction. Given the incidence of sexual dysfunction within the diabetic population, primary care physicians should actively involve themselves in the identification of such problems in both their male and female diabetic patients.