Abstract

LEDON LLANES, Loraine  and  CASTELO ELIAS-CALLES, Lizet. Coping with erectile dysfunction-related distress in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Rev Cubana Endocrinol [online]. 2013, vol.24, n.3, pp. 242-257. ISSN 1561-2953.

Introduction: the studies on the coping with distress generated by sexual difficulties in diabetes mellitus persons are scanty. Objectives: to identify the coping strategies of a group of men with type 2 diabetes mellitus against the distress generated by erectile dysfunction and to explore the relationship between these strategies and their perceived and referred requirements. Methods: cross sectional and descriptive study combining qualitative and quantitative methods. Ten men with type 2 diabetes mellitus and secondary erectile dysfunction participated in it. The instruments were Coping Modes Scale of RS Lazarus and S. Folkman, Ten-desire technique and semi-structured interview. The quantitative information was processed by using absolute values, percentages and means (according to data or instrument used) and the qualitative one through extracting general topics, categories and contents. Theoretical and source triangulation was carried out. Ethical aspects were taken into consideration. Results: the subjects were 51.6 years-old as average, higher and middle-higher education and all were living in Havana. There were divergences among the strategies mentioned in the questionnaire and the interview in the former, the subjects stated the search for social support more frequently (mean of 1.8) whereas in the latter, they mostly mentioned runaway-avoidance, through emerging and coadjutant strategies such as lack of interest in information, search of external causes and search of new experiences. Fundamental needs and motivations were expressed in the sexual-marital area. Conclusions: the participants used emotional management as a fundamental way of coping with erectile dysfunction distress, through the runaway-avoidance strategy. This event, the importance given to sexuality and other discussed aspects in the article give rise to important psychosexual vulnerabilities in the studied subjects.

Keywords : coping process; diabetes mellitus; erectile dysfunction; runaway-avoidance strategy.

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