Sexual health is an important part of men’s life despite age, social status and sexual orientation. Sexual dysfunction is the inability to have a satisfactory sexual relationship and activity which involves various system of the body. Sexual dysfunction can affect a men’s quality of life, emotional stability , or even a sign of underdiagnosed medical illness . Therefore, it is crucial for men to seek health assistant or physician as soon as first symptom appears. Sexual dysfunction comprise of disorders involving sexual transmitted disease (std), libido, orgasm , erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and sexual pain . Based on the few available community studies, it appears that sexual dysfunctions are highly prevalent in both sexes, ranging from 10% to 52% of men and 25% to 63% of women. Data from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study(MMAS) showed that 34.8% of men aged 40 to 70 years had moderate to complete erectile dysfunction, which was strongly related to age, health status, and emotional function. Sexual transmitted disease is an epidemic transmitted by sexual contact, anal or oral sex . Approximately 1 million sexual transmitted disease recorded by World health organisation each day with new infection : chlamydia (127 million), gonorrhoea (87 million), syphilis (6.3 million) and trichomoniasis (156 million) causing social and economic consequences. Women still account for most cases of STIs (with the exception of HIV) namely Chlamydia, Bacterial vaginosis , Gonorrhea , and Human Papilloma virus. Incidence among men however in particular affected gay and bisexual men, shows greater increases in syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea rates. In Malaysia, male STI Notification rates have shown 2 or 3 fold higher than female in the last 10 years period (below graph).

Early intervention to avoid spreading of this transmitted disease is very crucial as the sufferer can go unnoticed, asymptomatic. Adolescents and young adults (15-24 years old) make up only 25% of the sexually active population, but represent almost 50% of all new acquired STDs. An adequate screening for STDs should be done on a routine basis in every part of the world. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is common dysfunction in men. It is multifactorial origin and associated with different medical disorder mainly neurologic, vascular, hormonal, pharmacological, functional and psychological. Patient with erectile dysfunction usually presence with other different comorbidities and vice versa. We can say, presence of comorbidities is one of risk factor for development of sexual dysfunction . A studies has shown that men with comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes ,depressive symptoms , smoking habit ,obesity or hypercholesterolemia aware of their sexual dysfunction and will later diagnosed with moderate or severe erectile dysfunction. Undertreatment of men with erectile dysfunction has been reported. Only 25.4% of 6,228,509 men with ED were treated during study period in United State of America and the percentage is expected to be much lower in Malaysia due to social stigma and patient feeling embarassed. Study in United State showed, Phosphodiesterase inhibitor were the most commonly prescribed medical therapy (75.2%) while ART (androgen replacement therapy ) was utilized as monotherapy or in combination therapy in 30.6% of men. ART was significantly more frequently used in men <40 and >65 years. Although ED frequency was associated with increased age and number of comorbidities, men >60 years were significantly less likely to be treated compared with men aged 40-59 years.(A good rapport and through history taking should be carried out by physician in order to disclose the causes and prescribed a proper treatment)

Referrences Addis, M. E. & Mahalik, J. R. 2003. Men, Masculinity, and the Contexts of Help Seeking.American Psychologist. doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.1.5 Da Ros, C. T. & Da Silva Schmitt, C. 2008. Global epidemiology of sexually transmitted diseases. Asian Journal of Andrology. doi:10.1111/j.1745-7262.2008.00367.x Frederick, L. R., Cakir, O. O., Arora, H., Helfand, B. T. & McVary, K. T. 2014. Undertreatment of erectile dysfunction: Claims analysis of 6.2 million patients. Journal of Sexual Medicine. doi:10.1111/jsm.12647 Laumann, E. O., Paik, A. & Rosen, R. C. 1999. Sexual dysfunction in the United States: Prevalence and predictors. Journal of the American Medical Association. doi:10.1001/jama.281.6.537 Smith, J. A., Braunack-Mayer, A. & Wittert, G. 2006. What do we know about men’s help-seeking and health service use? Medical Journal of Australia.

Prepared by: Dr. Razif Bin Zainol Abidin Health Promotion, Cancer Education Resources and Clinical Unit HSAAS UPM

Date of Input: 20/08/2026 | Updated: 20/08/2026 | ahmadfaiq