Prevalence and pattern of sexual dysfunction in married females receiving antidepressants: An exploratory study

OBJECTIVE: To study the prevalence and patterns of sexual dysfunctions in female patients receiving antidepressants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty married female patients with a diagnosis of depressive disorder, currently in remission, and receiving a single antidepressant at least for 3 months, were assessed for sexual dysfunction on female sexual function index (FSFI) scale. RESULTS: Thirty four patients (42.5%) receiving antidepressants had FSFI score less than 26.55 and were considered to have sexual dysfunction. When only the domain cutoff scores were used for the whole study sample (n=80), it was found that 95% had decreased desire, 60% had decreased arousal, 37.5% had decreased lubrication, 63.8 had decreased orgasm, 55% had decreased satisfaction and 25% had pain during sexual activity. CONCLUSIONS: To conclude, our study suggests that sexual dysfunction is quite prevalent in married female patients receiving antidepressants and all the domains of sexual functioning are impaired by antidepressants.