Background: Sexual dysfunctions (SD) are frequent in schizophrenia (SZ) and associated with treatment withdrawal, however they remain under-explored and under-treated. To date, most of the studies have focused on SD as antipsychotics' side effects in therapeutic trials.
Aims: The objectives of the present study were to determine the SD prevalence in stabilized SZ outpatients and their clinical, pharmacological and biological correlates.
Method: Two hundred and thirty-seven participants (61.2% men) were consecutively included and received a thorough 2 days- clinical assessment including the self-reported Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (SFQ). SD was defined by a SFQ score ≥ 8.
Results: Two hundred and thirty-seven subjects were recruited in the FACE-SZ cohort, 41% of them reported sexual dysfunctions. In multivariate analyses, SD have been associated with current major depressive disorder (adjusted odd ratio aOR = 2.29[1.08-4.85], p = .03), anticholinergic prescription (aOR = 2.65, p = .02) and chronic low-grade inflammation (aOR = 2.09, p = .03) independently of age, gender, current cannabis use disorder and olanzapine prescription. No antipsychotic has been associated with increased or decreased SD rate.
Conclusions: SD are frequent in SZ subjects. Major depression, anticholinergic prescription and chronic low-grade peripheral inflammation may be the three targets of interest for addressing this specific issue.
Keywords: Antipsychotics; Inflammation; Major depression; Schizophrenia; Sexual dysfunctions.
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.