Sexual function in patients with bipolar disorder type I evaluated in symptomatic remission: a cross-sectional study.

Introduction: Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic pathology that is associated with several impairments throughout a patient's life, including decreased sexual function. Despite the importance in quality of life (QoL), functionality and medication adherence, it is still little investigated in these patients.

Objective: To compare the sexual function of patients with Bipolar Disorder type I (BD-I), in remission, with healthy controls (HC) and to investigate the clinical and socio-demographic characteristics associated with sexual function in these individuals. Also, to assess the QoL in patients with and without sexual dysfunction (SD).

Methods: Cross-sectional study with 132 patients with BD-I in euthymic phase and 61 HCs from an outpatient clinic. All the participants were evaluated through the Arizona Sexual Scale (ASEX) and the brief version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Assessment (WHOQoL-BREF). The patients with BD-I were compared with the HCs. The patients were divided into two groups: the ones diagnosed with SD and the ones without it.

Results: The patients with BD-I had higher rates of SD (42.4%) compared to the HCs (16.4%) (OR 3.67, 95% CI 1.55 - 8.67; p=0.003). SD in patients was associated with being women (p=0.001), older age (p=0.003) and having a longer duration of untreated illness (p=0.010). Patients with SD had worse QoL scores compared to those without SD.

Conclusion: Patients with BD-I have a high prevalence of SD and this was associated with worse QoL scores in all domains.