Table 1. Comparison of demographics, clinical characteristics, and sex hormone levels between asymptomatic and symptomatic patients divided based on erectile function.
| Asymptomatic based on erectile function (n = 13) |
Symptomatic based on erectile function (n = 16) |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical characteristics | |||
| Age, years | 44.4 ±8.4 | 52.1 ±10.9 | 0.045 |
| BMI, kg/mm2 | 54.8 ±12.4 | 46.9 ±7.3 | 0.041 |
| Type 2 diabetes, n (%) | 5 (38%) | 14 (88%) | 0.006 |
| Duration of diabetes, years | 5±3 | 6±5 | 0.787 |
| Pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes, n (%) | 10 (77%) | 14 (88%) | 0.453 |
| Hypertension, n (%) | 4 (30%) | 11 (68%) | 0.042 |
| Antihypertensives, n | 0 (0–1) | 1 (0–2) | 0.092 |
| Biochemistry | |||
| HbA1c, mmol/mol | 52±13 | 55±15 | 0.591 |
| Total cholesterol, mmol/l | 3.8±1.2 | 4.0±1.0 | 0.796 |
| Triglyceride, mmol/l | 1.0±0.5 | 1.3±0.5 | 0.206 |
| HDL-C, mmol/l | 1.01±0.38 | 0.95±0.22 | 0.702 |
| LDL-C, mmol/l | 2.5±1.0 | 2.4±0.8 | 0.808 |
| Sex hormones | |||
| Low testosterone, n (%) | 7 (54) | 10 (63) | 0.638 |
| Total testosterone, nmol/L | 9.0 (6.4–12.3) | 8.8 (6.4–11.0) | 0.914 |
| Free testosterone, pmol/L | 179 (132–311) | 176 (120–216) | 0.351 |
| Sex hormone-binding globulin, nmol/L | 29.2 (21.7–35.5) | 32.1 (21.7–38.3) | 0.559 |
| Luteinising hormone, mIU/Ml | 2.3±1.2 | 3.5±1.9 | 0.059 |
| Follicle-stimulating hormone, mIU/L | 4.2 (2.9–4.7) | 3.5 (2.4–4.9) | 0.779 |
| Dihydrotestosterone, nmol/L | 0.60 (0.34–0.98) | 0.62 (0.50–0.99) | 0.914 |
| Dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, nmol/L | 2.2 (1.1–3.4) | 1.3 (0.9–3.6) | 0.537 |
| Androstenedione, nmol/L | 2.3 (1.6–3.0) | 1.6 (1.3–2.4) | 0.170 |
Notes: Data are presented as mean and standard deviation for normally-distributed variables and median and interquartile range for non-parametric variables. Independent t-test was performed for normally-distributed variables, Mann-Whitney U test for non-parametric variables, and chi-squared test for categorical variables when comparing asymptomatic and symptomatic groups. p<0.05 is considered statistically significant.
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; HbA1c, glycosylated haemoglobin; HDL-C, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.