Erectile Dysfunction in Methadone Maintenance Patients: A Cross Sectional Study in Northern Iran

OBJECTIVE: Erectile dysfunction affects quality of life and is a common dysfunction in drug abusers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of erectile dysfunction in drug abusers on methadone maintenance therapy to reduce this drug side effect in the future studies. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted with two hundred addicted individuals on methadone maintenance therapy. Erectile dysfunction was surveyed using the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF). Finally, all data were collected and analyzed by descriptive statistics such as measures of variability and central tendency and Chi-squared (χ(2)) test using SPSS Version18.0 software. RESULTS: The amount of the total frequency of erectile dysfunction was pointed 30 or less among the two hundred patients and included the moderate and severe cases. In this study, the number of patients with erectile dysfunction was fifty three (26.5%). CONCLUSION: The frequency of erectile dysfunction in our study was approximately 1.5 times of prevalence of the public (16.1%). In this study, all the factors related to sexual function such as erectile function, libido, orgasm, and sexual pleasure showed a decline among drug abusers.