Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia.
Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety Unit, Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Mar 18;17(6):1993. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17061993.
Sexual dysfunction has been extensively studied in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) patients. However, little data is available regarding sexual inactivity in the MMT patient population. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence and putative risk factors for sexual inactivity in the MMT patient population. This cross-sectional study involved 25-71 year old MMT patients recruited from six methadone clinics. Two hundred and seventy-one patients were interviewed for demographic characteristics, comorbidities, concurrent medications used, and sexual activity. The prevalence of sexual inactivity in the MMT population was found to be 47.6%. Increasing age ( < 0.01) and being single/divorced ( < 0.01) were significantly associated with sexual inactivity. In subgroup analysis, increasing age was significantly associated with sexual inactivity in both single/divorced ( < 0.05) and married ( < 0.05) subgroups, while unemployment ( < 0.05) was only significantly associated with sexual inactivity in the earlier subgroup. Our results suggest that sexual inactivity is common in the MMT patient population. The putative risk factors are related to biological and sociocultural factors. Having specific comorbidities or being on certain medications were not correlated with sexual inactivity in the MMT population. Routine assessment of sexual problems is essential, and proper management should be performed for MMT patients.
性功能障碍在美沙酮维持治疗（MMT）患者中已得到广泛研究。然而，关于 MMT 患者群体中的性行为不活跃，数据很少。本研究的目的是确定 MMT 患者群体中性行为不活跃的患病率和可能的危险因素。这项横断面研究涉及从六个美沙酮诊所招募的 25 至 71 岁的 MMT 患者。对 271 名患者进行了人口统计学特征、合并症、同时使用的药物和性行为的访谈。发现 MMT 人群中的性行为不活跃率为 47.6%。年龄增长（<0.01）和单身/离婚（<0.01）与性行为不活跃显著相关。在亚组分析中，年龄增长与单身/离婚（<0.05）和已婚（<0.05）亚组中的性行为不活跃显著相关，而失业（<0.05）仅与早期亚组中的性行为不活跃显著相关。我们的研究结果表明，性行为不活跃在 MMT 患者群体中很常见。可能的危险因素与生物和社会文化因素有关。在 MMT 人群中，特定的合并症或使用某些药物与性行为不活跃无关。对性问题进行常规评估至关重要，应针对 MMT 患者进行适当的管理。
