Sexual Dysfunction and Associated Factors Among Individuals with Mental Illness Taking Psychotropic Medications at Jimma University Medical Center, South West Ethiopia

Abstract

Background:Sexual dysfunction often accompanies severe psychiatric illnesses and can be due to both the mental disordersthemselves and the use of psychotropic medications.sexual difficulties are major contributing factors for personal distress,marital discord,poor medication adherence and overall poor quality of life in patients with mental illness.Despite this burden, sexual dysfunctions are under-reported by patients, under‐recognized by clinicians and scarcely investigated in studies in developing countries. Objective:To assess the prevalence of sexual dysfunction and its associated factors among patients with mental illness atJimmauniversity medical center,south west Ethiopia. Methods:An inistitution-basedcross-sectional study was conducted at Jimma UniversityMedical Center,from January,01 - 30,2023.A total of 406 participans were included in the study using systematic random sampling technique.Data were collected by semi-structured questionnaire using face-to-face interview.A Change in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire (CSFQ-14) was used to assess sexual dysfunction.Data was analyzed using SPSS version 26 software.Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between dependent and independent variables.Independent variables with a p-value < 0.05 were declared to have statistically significant association with sexual dysfunction. Results:The response rate of this study was 98%.General sexual dysfunction among patients with mental illness wasfoundin 277(55.9%) of participants.It is more prevalent among males (60.7%). Conclusion and recomendation:Sexual dysfunction among psychiatric patients on treatment is evidently prevalent, occurring in more than half of our study participants.Age above 44,being widowed,being divorced,having a diagnosis of Major depressive disorder,having history of relapse,polytherapy,substance use, poor quality of life and poor medication adherence were associated with sexual dysfunction among patients receiving psychotropic medications in Jimma university medical center.Understanding the impact of thedisorder on patients’overall quality of life,treatment compliance and relapse rate is critical to device appropriate ways for effective clinical care.