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Investigation of Sexual Satisfaction in Women with Epilepsy and Its Clinical Correlates

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Abstract

Women with epilepsy are at increased risk of sexual dysfunction. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the effect of antiepileptic drugs on sexual function and satisfaction in women with epilepsy. In this cross-sectional study, 80 married women with epilepsy who were under treatment with antiepileptic drugs for at least 1 year were evaluated. Sexual function in patients was assessed using the Female Sexual Function Index. The mean age (± standard deviation [SD]) of women was 28.8 (± 5.9) years. The mean (± SD) duration of epilepsy was 8.6 (± 4.1) years. Thirteen women (16.2%) had focal epilepsy and 67 (83.7%) had generalized epilepsy. The mean (± SD) overall sexual performance of patients was 20.5 (± 4.7). Fifteen patients (21.3%) had decreased sexual function and 78.2% had unfavorable sexual performance. Generalized epilepsy, multi-drug regimen, disease duration of more than 10 years, and age > 30 years were associated with sexual dysfunction. Due to the high prevalence of sexual dysfunction in women with epilepsy, special attention should be given to appropriate management of these patients.

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Data Availability

The analyzed data sets generated during the study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by Hamadan University of Medica Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurophysiology Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran

    Mehrdokht Mazdeh

  2. Urogenital Stem Cell Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Taheri

  3. Department of Medical Genetics, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Soudeh Ghafouri-Fard

Authors
  1. Mehrdokht Mazdeh
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  2. Mohammad Taheri
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  3. Soudeh Ghafouri-Fard
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Contributions

MM designed the study and performed the clinical assessment. MT and SGF wrote the draft and revised it. All authors contributed equally and fully approved of the submission.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Mohammad Taheri or Soudeh Ghafouri-Fard.

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Ethics Approval and Consent to Participate

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent forms were obtained from all study participants. The study protocol was approved by the ethical committee of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences (IR.UMSHA.REC.1398.078). All methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations.

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Not applicable.

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The authors declare that they have nothing to report.

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Mazdeh, M., Taheri, M. & Ghafouri-Fard, S. Investigation of Sexual Satisfaction in Women with Epilepsy and Its Clinical Correlates. J Mol Neurosci 71, 1193–1196 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-020-01744-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12031-020-01744-z

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