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| |  Female Patients Less Likely to Report Sexual Dysfunction as a Side Effect of Antidepressants: Presented at ECNP By Jenny Powers ISTANBUL, Turkey -- September 15, 2009 -- Females may be underreporting sexual dysfunction as a side effect of antidepressant drugs, affecting the evaluation of such side effects by gender, according to research presented here at the 22nd European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Congress. Toshiaki Kikuchi, MD, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan, and colleagues undertook research that addressed which antidepressant side effects might deter patients from continuing treatment. Patients are more likely to continue treatment when side effects are disclosed, thus offering the possibility for altering rather than discontinuing medication, Dr. Kikuchi noted, speaking here on September 13. She and her fellow researchers sought to determine patient attitudes toward side effects, with the goal of developing better treatment strategies. In February of 2008, the team carried out an Internet survey to evaluate attitudes toward and reporting of 16 commonly experienced side effects of antidepressants. The study participants (n = 1,305) had been diagnosed with depressive disorder, and were selected from a database of 228,310 patients who were registered on the Yahoo! Japan research monitor system. Participants were asked which common antidepressant side effects they had experienced, including headache, nausea, somnolence, vertigo/dizziness, dry mouth, constipation, diarrhoea, appetite loss, insomnia, tremor, sweating, anxiety, common cold, fatigue, sexual dysfunction, weight gain, and others. Participants were then queried as to whether they had reported these side effects to their physician and how they had coped with each side effect. Of the 1,187 participants who completed the questionnaire (response rate: 91.0%), 871 of them (73.4%) most frequently reported side effects of somnolence (65.8%), dry mouth (52.7%), fatigue (46.8%), constipation (39.8%), and sexual dysfunction (37.1%). Reporting differed widely between each side effect; however, the ratios ranged from 45.7% to 89.9% -- with sexual dysfunction having the lowest reporting ratio. Fewer women (36.6%) than men (60.7%) reported sexual dysfunction to their physicians. Actions taken because of side effects also varied between the effects experienced, and ranged from 26.3% for sexual dysfunction to 89.5% for dry mouth. A lower percentage of women (19.8%) than men (36.9%) had attempted to address the side effect of sexual dysfunction. Physicians must understand that patients are reluctant to discuss sexual dysfunction, and that they may be experiencing this side effect even though they do not report it. Interestingly, nearly 75% of patients who experienced sexual dysfunction did nothing to cope with this side effect, which may affect the decision to discontinue treatment. The researchers concluded that reporting of sexual dysfunction has a strong gender bias, with women less likely to discuss this side effect of antidepressant use. Funding for this study was provided by GlaxoSmithKline Japan. [Presentation title: Patients’ Behaviours Towards Side Effects of Antidepressants With a Focus on Gender-Difference]
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