Conference paper
SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION IN PATIENTS WITH EPILEPSY
Katarina Ivana Tudor
; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Referral Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia for Epilepsy, Affiliated Partner of the ERN EpiCARE, Zagreb, Croatia
Željka Petelin Gadže
; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Referral Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia for Epilepsy, Affiliated Partner of the ERN EpiCARE, Zagreb, Croatia
Andreja Bujan Kovač
; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Referral Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia for Epilepsy, Affiliated Partner of the ERN EpiCARE, Zagreb, Croatia
Ervina Bilić
; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Referral Center of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia for Neuromuscular Diseases and Clinical Electromyoneurography, Zagreb, Croatia
Sandra Nađ Škegro
; Department of Urology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Mirko Bakula
; Department of Urology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Dinko Hauptman
; Department of Urology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Monika Mudrovčić
; University Hospital for Infectious Diseases "Dr Fran Mihaljevic", Zagreb, Croatia
Barbara Sitaš
; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Referral Center of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia for Neuromuscular Diseases and Clinical Electromyoneurography, Zagreb, Croatia
Slavko Orešković
; Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Zagreb University School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia
Sanja Hajnšek
; Department of Neurology, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Referral Centre of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Croatia for Epilepsy, Affiliated Partner of the ERN EpiCARE, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
Background: Patients with epilepsy commonly report sexual dysfunction (SD) and reproductive difficulties. This study aimed to
evaluate the relationship between epilepsy, antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and SD, and its association with the quality of life and
depressive symptoms.
Subjects and methods: This was a prospective study carried out in a tertiary healthcare centre. SD was evaluated using the
internationally acclaimed questionnaire Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) that was successfully translated into Croatian
and validated for this purpose. Depressive symptoms and quality of life were evaluated using the Hamilton Rating Scale for
Depression (HAM-D17) and Quality of life in epilepsy-31 inventory (QOLIE-31).
Results: Of 108 patients (68 (63 %) women, 40 (37 %) men, mean age 39.54±15.91 (range18-80) years) with epilepsy, 16
(14.8%) had focal, 38 (35.2%) generalized and 44 (40.7%) both types of epilepsy. Mean overall total score on the ASEX
questionnaire was 11.94±5.61 (mean total score women 12.85±6.00, mean total score men 10.4±4.55), with 48 reporting that they
had sexual activity in the past week. Nine (8.33%) patients (7 (6.48%) women, 2 (1.85%) men, mean age 47.66±19.33 (range 25-80)
years) had a score 19 and above, 38 (35.18%) patients (27 (25%) women, 9 (8.33%) men, mean age 46.82±17.78 (range 19-80)
years) individual score 5 and above on any one item, and 33 (30.55%) patients (26 (24.07%) women, 7 (6.48%) men, mean age
48.87±17.8 (range 19-80) years) had an individual score 4 and above on any three items. Significant correlations were found
between SD and older age (p=0.001) and between more pronounced symptoms regarding SD on ASEX and female gender (p=0.000).
There were no significant correlations between the type of epilepsy and SD, nor between the AEDs (old generation vs. modern) and
SD. Significant correlations were found between the SD and more pronounced depressive symptoms (p=0.003) and between the SD
and a lower quality of life (p=0.001).
Conclusions: Results of our study suggest SD is experienced by around one-third of patients in our group, which is similar to the
previous percentage of SD reported in the community sample. Women were found to experience more pronounced symptoms of SD
on ASEX. Symptoms of SD were found to be significantly correlated with older age, female gender, lower quality of life and
depressive symptoms, while no significant correlations were found with the type of epilepsy and the AEDs.
Keywords
epilepsy; sexual dysfunction (SD); Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX); depression; quality of life (QoL)
Hrčak ID:
271720
URI
Publication date:
19.10.2021.
Visits: 511 *