Assessment of sexual functioning in depressed patients treated with mirtazapine: a naturalistic 6-month study

✍ Scribed by Jerónimo Saiz-Ruiz; Jose Manuel Montes; Ángela Ibáñez; Marina Díaz; Francisco Vicente; Carmelo Pelegrín; Rosa Viñas; Francisco Arias; Jose Luis Carrasco; Laura Ferrando

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 71 KB
• Volume: 20
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6222
• DOI: 10.1002/hup.706

✦ Synopsis

Antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction is a frequent side effect which may greatly contribute to treatment non compliance. Mirtazapine has a pharmacological profile expected to result in a lack of sexual dysfunction. The main purpose of this 6-month open-label study was to evaluate the effects of mirtazapine on sexual function of a sample of depressed patients. Methods Seventy-eight patients meeting DSM-IV criteria for major depression or adjustment disorder with depressed mood or with mixed anxiety and depressed mood, sexually active prior to the episode, were treated with mirtazapine (15-60 mg/day). Effectiveness was assessed using the 17-item Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAM-D-17), the Hamilton rating scale for anxiety (HAM-A) and the clinical global impression (severity and improvement) scales (CGI). Sexual function was evaluated with the psychotropic-related sexual dysfunction questionnaire (PRSexDQ) which detects clinical changes in sexual dysfunction. Results Forty-eight patients (61.5%) were experiencing sexual dysfunction at baseline. A return to normal sexual functioning was observed in 27 of 38 (71.1%) patients completing the study. Significant reductions in mean total PRSexDQ scores were detected at day 90 and endpoint and only four patients withdrew or required dose reduction due to mirtazapine-induced sexual dysfunction. A total of 37 patients (47.4%) achieved complete remission of depression (HAM-D-17 score 7) at endpoint. Only seven patients (9.0%) withdrew the study because of adverse events. Conclusion Mirtazapine showed in this study that it is an effective and well-tolerated antidepressant treatment with a possibly lower incidence of sexual side effects than other antidepressants.