Abstract
Background
Depressive disorders and use of antidepressants are associated with adverse effects on sexual function. In pharmacoepidemiological studies, sexual disorders are reported by more than 50 % of patients taking serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs).
Objective
The aim of this study was to determine the reporting rate of sexual disorders in association with SRIs, and to investigate the association between reported cases and the use of SRIs.
Methods
All cases of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) involving sexual disorders, spontaneously reported to the French Pharmacovigilance Database from 1 January 1985 to December 2009, were reviewed. Cases of sexual disorders in SRI users were described. We calculated the rate of reported sexual disorders as a percentage of the total ADRs reported for each drug. The association between reported cases and the use of SRIs was assessed using reporting odds ratios (ROR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs).
Results
A total of 11,863 ADRs in association with SRIs were collected, of which 98 (0.83 %) were spontaneous reports of sexual disorders. Subjects were, on average, 45.0 ± 10.6 years of age and mainly male. Sexual disorders were associated with the use of SRI antidepressants (ROR 4.47; 95 % CI 3.61–5.53), milnacipran (ROR 11.72; 95 % CI 5.79–23.72), fluvoxamine (ROR 6.91; 95 % CI 3.79–12.58), paroxetine (ROR 5.54; 95 % CI 3.92–7.83), venlafaxine (ROR 3.50; 95 % CI 1.93–6.36), fluoxetine (ROR 3.46; 95 % CI 2.26–5.29), citalopram (ROR 2.69; 95 % CI 1.28–5.67) and sertraline (ROR 2.49; 95 % CI 1.03–6.01).
Conclusion
It is likely that there are instances of underreporting, particularly for ADRs that are embarrassing to talk about spontaneously. Despite the likely underreporting of this well-described adverse effect, this case/non-case study performed in a large national pharmacovigilance database confirms the existence of the risk of sexual disorders associated with SRIs, and is an example of the lack of sensitivity of spontaneous notification to measure ADRs. Minimization of antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction could be an important factor to avoid unsuccessful treatment. Physicians should advise their patients on the possible sexual adverse effects.
Notes
MedDRA® terminology is the medical terminology developed under the auspices of the International Conference on Harmonization of technical requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH).
References
Montgomery SA, Baldwin DS, Riley A. Antidepressant medications: a review of the evidence for drug-induced sexual dysfunction. J Affect Disord. 2002;69(1–3):119–40.
Werneke U, Northey S, Bhugra D. Antidepressants and sexual dysfunction. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2006;114(6):384–97.
Clayton A, Keller A, McGarvey EL. Burden of phase-specific sexual dysfunction with SSRIs. J Affect Disord. 2006;91(1):27–32.
McGettigan P, Golden J, Conroy RM, et al. Reporting of adverse drug reactions by hospital doctors and the response to intervention. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1997;44(1):98–100.
Smith CC, Bennett PM, Pearce HM, et al. Adverse drug reactions in a hospital general medical unit meriting notification to the Committee on Safety of Medicines. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1996;42(4):423–9.
Ribeiro-Vaz I, Santos C, da Costa-Pereira A, et al. Promoting spontaneous adverse drug reaction reporting in hospitals using a hyperlink to the online reporting form: an ecological study in Portugal. Drug Saf. 2012;35(5):387–94.
Brown EG, Wood L, Wood S. The medical dictionary for regulatory activities (MedDRA). Drug Saf. 1999;20(2):109–17.
Evans SJ, Waller PC, Davis S. Use of proportional reporting ratios (PRRs) for signal generation from spontaneous adverse drug reaction reports. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2001;10(6):483–6.
Rothman KJ, Lanes S, Sacks ST. The reporting odds ratio and its advantages over the proportional reporting ratio. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2004;13(8):519–23.
Woolf B. On estimating the relationship between blood group and disease. Ann Hum Genet. 1955;19:251–3.
Olie JP, Elomari F, Spadone C, et al. Antidepressants consumption in the global population in France. Encephale. 2002;28(5 Pt 1):411–7.
Hazell L, Shakir SA. Under-reporting of adverse drug reactions: a systematic review. Drug Saf. 2006;29(5):385–96.
Mittmann N, Knowles SR, Gomez M, et al. Evaluation of the extent of under-reporting of serious adverse drug reactions: the case of toxic epidermal necrolysis. Drug Saf. 2004;27(7):477–87.
Williams VS, Baldwin DS, Hogue SL, et al. Estimating the prevalence and impact of antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction in 2 European countries: a cross-sectional patient survey. J Clin Psychiatry. 2006;67(2):204–10.
Lee KU, Lee YM, Nam JM, et al. Antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction among newer antidepressants in a naturalistic setting. Psychiatry Investig. 2010;7(1):55–9.
Osvath P, Fekete S, Voros V, et al. Sexual dysfunction among patients treated with antidepressants: a Hungarian retrospective study. Eur Psychiatry. 2003;18(8):412–4.
Balon R. SSRI-associated sexual dysfunction. Am J Psychiatry. 2006;163(9):1504–9 quiz 664.
Clayton AH, Pradko JF, Croft HA, et al. Prevalence of sexual dysfunction among newer antidepressants. J Clin Psychiatry. 2002;63(4):357–66.
Kikuchi T, Uchida H, Suzuki T, et al. Patients’ attitudes toward side effects of antidepressants: an Internet survey. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2011;261:103–9.
Hu XH, Bull SA, Hunkeler EM, et al. Incidence and duration of side effects and those rated as bothersome with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor treatment for depression: patient report versus physician estimate. J Clin Psychiatry. 2004;65(7):959–65.
Montejo-Gonzalez AL, Llorca G, Izquierdo JA, et al. SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction: fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline, and fluvoxamine in a prospective, multicenter, and descriptive clinical study of 344 patients. J Sex Marital Ther. 1997;23(3):176–94.
Landen M, Hogberg P, Thase ME. Incidence of sexual side effects in refractory depression during treatment with citalopram or paroxetine. J Clin Psychiatry. 2005;66(1):100–6.
Van der Heijden PG, van Puijenbroek EP, van Buuren S, et al. On the assessment of adverse drug reactions from spontaneous reporting systems: the influence of under-reporting on odds ratios. Stat Med. 2002;21(14):2027–44.
Mannesse CK, van Puijenbroek EP, Jansen PA, et al. Hyponatraemia as an adverse drug reaction of antipsychotic drugs: a case-control study in VigiBase. Drug Saf. 2010;33(7):569–78.
Soga T, Wong DW, Clarke IJ, et al. Citalopram (antidepressant) administration causes sexual dysfunction in male mice through RF-amide related peptide in the dorsomedial hypothalamus. Neuropharmacology. 2010;59(1–2):77–85.
Hellstrom WJ. Emerging treatments for premature ejaculation: focus on dapoxetine. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2009;5:37–46.
Wolters JP, Hellstrom WJ. Current concepts in ejaculatory dysfunction. Rev Urol. 2006;8(Suppl. 4):S18–25.
Frye CA, Rhodes ME. Fluoxetine-induced decrements in sexual responses of female rats and hamsters are reversed by 3alpha,5alpha-THP. J Sex Med. 2010;7:2670–80.
Linton KD, Wylie KR. Recent advances in the treatment of premature ejaculation. Drug Des Dev Ther. 2010;4:1–6.
Rowland D, McMahon CG, Abdo C, et al. Disorders of orgasm and ejaculation in men. J Sex Med. 2010;7(4 Pt 2):1668–86.
Moore N, Hall G, Sturkenboom M, et al. Biases affecting the proportional reporting ratio (PPR) in spontaneous reports pharmacovigilance databases: the example of sertindole. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2003;12(4):271–81.
Pariente A, Gregoire F, Fourrier-Reglat A, et al. Impact of safety alerts on measures of disproportionality in spontaneous reporting databases: the notoriety bias. Drug Saf. 2007;30(10):891–8.
Weber JCP. Epidemiology of adverse reactions to nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. In: Rainsford KD, Velo GP, editors. Advances in inflammatory research. New York: Raven Press; 1984. p. 1–7.
Patterson WM. Fluoxetine-induced sexual dysfunction. J Clin Psychiatry. 1993;54(2):71.
Acknowledgments
The MedDRA® trademark is owned by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) on behalf of the ICH. The authors would like to thank all 31 regional centres of the French Pharmacovigilance System, and to Fiona Ecarnot for translation and editorial assistance.
Funding
No sources of funding were used to conduct this study or prepare this manuscript.
Conflicts of interest
Thierry Trenque, Géric Maura, Emmanuelle Herlem, Catherine Vallet, Elodie Sole, Pascal Auriche and Moustapha Drame have no conflicts of interest to declare that are directly relevant to the content of this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Trenque, T., Maura, G., Herlem, E. et al. Reports of Sexual Disorders Related to Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in the French Pharmacovigilance Database: An Example of Underreporting. Drug Saf 36, 515–519 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-013-0069-z
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40264-013-0069-z