There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
Decreased sexual interest and function both occur as a consequence of antidepressant
medication use, and are especially associated with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs).
However, few investigators have reported the base rate for disturbances in sexual
desire, arousal and orgasm or ejaculation in patients with major depression (MD) prior
to antidepressant treatment. The purpose of this report is to define the frequency
of sexual dysfunction (SD) in 134 patients with MD and examine the relationship between
SD and demographic, clinical and personality variables.
A consecutive series of 55 male and 79 female MD patients diagnosed by SCID-DSM IV
assessment completed a series of psychometric measures including a Sexual Function
Questionnaire, which asked about change in sexual interest and function as well as
sexual activity during the preceding month.
Only 50% of women and 75% of men reported sexual activity during the preceding month.
Over 40% of men and 50% of women reported decreased sexual interest. Reduced levels
of arousal were more common in both men and women (40-50%) than ejaculatory or orgasm
difficulties (15-20%). In women, problems with arousal and orgasm correlated with
higher neuroticism and lower extraversion. There was no relationship between SD and
personality measures in men. While age at onset of depression and number of prior
episodes showed a modest correlation with SD measures, there were no correlations
with severity of depression or specific symptoms clusters.
Although limited by a relatively small sample of drug free patients with MD, and by
the absence of a non-depressed comparison sample, these results emphasize the importance
of factors beyond specific drug effects in the assessment of antidepressant related
sexual dysfunction.