Sexual dysfunction in psychiatric inpatients the role of antipsychotic medication.

INTRODUCTION: Sexual dysfunction is a common side effect of antipsychotic medication. Although increased prolactin levels caused by antipsychotic agents are believed to play a major role with regard to sexual side effects, the underlying mechanism of antipsychotic agent-induced sexual dysfunction remains poorly understood. METHODS: In a multicentric study 587 psychiatric inpatients were assessed by means of a self-rating sexual questionnaire. Focussing on antipsychotic treatment three subgroups were drawn from the original sample. One group was treated with prolactin-increasing antipsychotics (n=119), the other with prolactin-neutral medication (n=109) and the third patient group was comprised of non-medicated clinical controls (n=105). RESULTS: The majority of all patients (50-75%) reported at least minor sexual dysfunction. On comparison of the subgroups, only female patients treated with prolactin-increasing medication reported more severe sexual dysfunction. However, multiple regression analysis did not confirm an association between the type of treatment and sexual impairment. DISCUSSION: Sexual dysfunction frequently occurs in psychiatric inpatients treated with antipsychotics. Our findings only partly support the assumptions concerning a major role of prolactin-increasing neuroleptics for medication-induced sexual impairment.

Sexual impairment in psychiatric inpatients: focus on depression.

INTRODUCTION: Although sexual side effects are a common reason for noncompliance with medication, information on impairment of sexuality in psychiatric inpatients is scarce. METHODS: In the present multi-center study, data on several aspects of sexual functioning were collected in psychiatric inpatients using a previously validated questionnaire. RESULTS: A high overall prevalence of sexual dysfunction was reported by participants and was highest in depressed subjects. Patients receiving antidepressants suffered from more frequent and more severe impairment of sexuality than did subjects receiving neither antidepressants nor antipsychotics or opioids. DISCUSSION: Judging from this data, sexual impairment appears to be a frequent and underestimated problem in psychiatric inpatients with a high prevalence across all diagnostic groups, particularly in depressed subjects. Female patients attribute this impairment mainly to their mental illness, whereas male patients tend to assign their impairments primarily to their medication.