Abstract
BACKGROUND: Psychotropic drugs are known to have a negative side effect called sexual dysfunction. Despite the fact that patients using psychiatric drugs frequently experience sexual issues, very few research have been conducted in India. Dysfunctional sexual function is a complex behavior that is influenced by a number of circumstances. It is very common among people with mental illness who take psychotropic drugs. The World Health Organization defines sexual health as a condition of sexuality-related physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being. It involves more than just the absence of illness, dysfunction, infirmity, and its consequences. A pleasant and respectful attitude toward sexuality and sexual relationships is necessary for sexual health. It also involves the opportunity to engage in pleasurable and secure sexual interactions free from compulsion, bias, and violence. The sexual rights of all people must be respected, defended, and upheld in order to achieve and maintain sexual health. Hippocrates was the first to analyze sexuality and keep notes on it. In recent years, it has become a bigger worry.
AIM: To study the prevalence and nature of SD among patients with mental illness receiving psychotropic medications under routine clinical conditions.
MATERIAL AND METHOD: A tertiary care hospital's department of psychiatry conducted this cross-sectional investigation there. The study included a convenience sample chosen from the psychiatry department's outpatient unit. 50 married men who met the DSM-V criteria for a diagnosis of mental disease made up the study sample. Participants in the study had to be between the ages of 18 and 50, be regularly taking psychiatric drugs for at least two months, have engaged in sexual activity during the previous month, and provide informed consent. The study excluded patients who had uncontrolled mental illness, co-morbid medical illnesses, or sexual dysfunction prior to starting psychotropic medication. Before the study began, authorization was acquired from the hospital's administrative staff.
RESULTS: Study sample consist of 50 married male patients, the mean age of study sample was 35.64 years, out of which most of the patients were from rural (63.1%) area. The education background reveals that 46.1% studied up to secondary level, while 27.2% primary level. In our study sample 62.3% were unemployed and majority pt had schizophrenia (67.9%) diagnosis and mostly was taking their medication on regular basis without any compliance issues. However, numbers of patients in the study on antipsychotics and on antidepressants were too small to draw definite conclusion about relative prevalence.
CONCLUSION: Patients using antipsychotic medications frequently experience sexual dysfunction brought on by psychotropic medications. For improved results and patient adherence to treatment, clinicians should be aware of this when prescribing psychiatric drugs and should create a treatment plan to handle psychotropic-induced sexual dysfunction. The knowledge learned will contribute to better patient compliance and a higher quality of life for those using psychiatric medications.
KEYWORDS: Sexual Dysfunctions, Mental Illness, Psychiatry Clinic, Follow Up Treatment and Ethiopia Psychotropics