Advances in Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety

Abstract

Sexual Side Effects of Antipsychotic Drugs

Shivnaveen Bains and Asim A. Shah

The use of antipsychotic drugs carries a difficult balance between the benefit of relieving psychotic symptoms and the risk of suffering from some of troubling adverse effect. Sexual dysfunction is very common among the patients taking antipsychotic drugs, but this area has been relatively neglected to date. This review article will summarize our current understanding of sexual dysfunction caused by the use of antipsychotic drugs. Sexual dysfunction is considered by many schizophrenia patients to be more troublesome than most other symptoms and adverse drug effects [1,2] and is a major cause of poor quality of life [3], negative attitude to therapy and treatment noncompliance [2].