Comparing of Sexual Side Effects of Sertraline, Fluoxetine and Citalopram in Female Patients

Depression is among the most common psychiatric disorders in the world. Its lifetime prevalence is 25% among women. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are common drugs used for the treatment of depression and are associated with specific complications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of sexual dysfunction caused by fluoxetine, citalopram and sertraline in depressed women. In this cross-sectional study, 90 women with depression treated with fluoxetine 20-40 mg (n=30), citalopram 20-40 mg (n=30) and sertraline 50-100 mg (n=30) were studied. All patients completed the A sex questionnaire to assess sexual dysfunction. The results were evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively. Sexual dysfunction was considered if a total of above 19 points, or a 5 or higher in a question or a score of 4 or higher in 3 different questions was achieved. Sexual dysfunction was observed in 53 cases (58.9%), including 18 (60%) of sertraline group, 16 patients (53.3%) of citalopram and 19 (63.3%) of fluoxetine group. Regarding this variable a significant difference was not observed between the three groups (p=0.46). In qualitative and quantitative assessment, only sexual desire was significantly lower in the sertraline group compared with citalopram group (p=0.04). Patients older than 30 years had a higher rate of sexual dysfunction compared to younger patients (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between the three drug groups concerning the incidence of sexual dysfunction. It seems that sexual function in women is not affected by SSRI drugs but age affects its incidence.