Background: Very little is known about the incidence of sexual problems in remittent depressive women, which are independent of prescribed medication. The current study examined the sexual life of such remittent patients and the effects of sexual dysfunction on the quality of life.
Method: A total of 39 female patients who had no sexual side effects caused by antidepressive medication and 39 healthy subjects were investigated. All patients were treated in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Medicine of Graz, Austria. The data on sexual problems and quality of life were obtained from the short questionnaire for sexual problems (KFSP-F) and the questionnaire on quality of life (FLZ).
Results: Even after remission, reduced libido and impaired sexual fantasies appeared to be the core sexual problems. Remittent depressive women with sexual dysfunction had a decreased quality of life.
Conclusion: Impaired sexual function is a common feature in depressive disorders. In some cases sexual problems even persist after remission and the observed sexual dysfunctions negatively affect quality of life. A detailed patient history is important to detect sexual problems.