33%) had difficulty with orgasm, 3 (25%) had both decreased desire and arousal and 1 (8.33%) had decreased arousal and difficulty with orgasm. Of 15 patients taking citalopram, 6 (40%) had decreased desire, 1 (6.66%) had difficulty with orgasm, 2 (13.33%) had decreased desire and

arousal, 1 (6.66%) had difficulty with orgasm and 3 (20%) had decreased arousal and difficulty with orgasm at the same time. In addition, one person on Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical paroxetine developed decreased arousal (Table 4). Table 4. Distribution of patients with sexual dysfunction based on kind of antidepressant. Discussion and conclusion Because information on sexual dysfunction due to SSRI use is lacking in Iran, this study was designed to gain more knowledge. A total of 100 patients were included in this study. These patients presented to the neuropsychology clinic at the university or private specialty clinics and were diagnosed with depression after an interview with a psychologist Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical based on DSM-IV-TR criteria. These patients were being treated with SSRIs. Of these 100 patients, 75 (75%) developed sexual dysfunction and 25 (25%) had no similar complaints. A study by Steffany and colleagues

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in 2003 also showed that the incidence of sexual dysfunction after SSRI use is about 30–70% greater than with after the use of other antidepressants [Steffany et al. 2003]. Our study agrees with findings from similar studies that, after SSRI use, women complain more about sexual dysfunction than men. A study by Montejo and colleagues in 1996 showed that men have increased incidence of sexual dysfunction compared with women but the degree of dysfunction is more prominent in women. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical They showed that decreased desire and difficulty with orgasm is more common in men and difficulty with arousal is more common in

women [Montejo et al. 1996]. In another study by Clyton and colleagues in 2006, the results showed Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical that 95.6% of women and 97.9% of men showed dysfunction at least in one phase of sexual functioning. Compared with women, men had more significant dysfunction with desire and orgasm and less significant dysfunction with arousal. However, sexual dysfunction in different stages did not Selleckchem Wortmannin significantly differ among men and women, which is also what we found in our study [Clyton et al. 2006]. Based on the kind of antidepressant, the prevalence of sexual dysfunction due to SSRIs was greatest in fluvoxamine, followed by citalopram, sertraline, fluoxetine and paroxetine. Fluvoxamine next caused dysfunction mostly with orgasm, citalopram with desire, fluoxetine with desire, sertraline with orgasm and paroxetine with arousal. Paroxetine is considered more commonly associated with delayed orgasm, ejaculation and sexual dysfunction compared with fluvoxamine and fluoxetine and sertraline (p < 0.05). In a study by Montejo and Liorca covering the period 1986–2000, 30–60% of patients treated with SSRIs developed sexual dysfunction, particularly noted when direct questioning was performed (more than 70%) [Hirschfeld, 2003].