1.Prevalence Of Major Depressive Disorder And Its Association With Erectile Dysfunction Among Clients On Methadone Maintenance Therapy
Siti Nur Saleha Saad ; Salina Mohamed ; Norni Abdullah ; Suthahar Ariaratnam ; Mohamad Rodi Isa
ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry 2021;22(4):1-14
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is substantially higher in people seeking Methadone
Maintenance Therapy (MMT) as compared to the normal population. Erectile
Dysfunction (ED) is one of the side effects of Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT)
which is rarely explored as it is regarded as a sensitive topic. This study aims to determine
the prevalence of MDD and its association with ED among MMT clients. A cross-sectional
study was conducted involving 160 subjects who attended the Methadone outpatient clinic.
The clients were given Patient Health Questionnaire-9 to screen for depressive symptoms
and MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview to diagnose MDD. ED was diagnosed
using the 5-item International Index of Erectile Function. The results showed the
prevalence of depression in clients on MMT was 30.6% and the prevalence of ED was
72.5%. On multivariate analyses, there were significant associations between ED with
depression (P<0.05). Smoking also was found to be contributed to depression.
Sociodemographic factors, comorbid medical illnesses, and illicit substance use were
found to have no associations with depression. Therefore, given the prevalence of MDD
and ED in MMT clients was high, routine assessment of depressive symptoms and sexual
function in clients on methadone should be done to minimize their negative impact on the
clients