Int J Risk Saf Med. 2019 Aug 19. doi: 10.3233/JRS-191005. [Epub ahead of print]
Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction: Patient experiences of engagement with healthcare professionals.
- 1
- Department of Psychological Medicine, North Wales, Bangor, Wales, UK.
- 2
- Department of Family Medicine, David Braley and Nancy Gordon Chair of Family Medicine, McMaster University, ON, Canada.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
A petition to the European Medicines Agency provided an opportunity to collect reports of a specific adverse event from patients and healthcare professionals, along with details of clinicians' attitudes when asked to endorse patient reports.
METHODS:
We approached a cohort of patients reporting post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) to an adverse event reporting website, RxISK.org. The responses of patients on their interactions with healthcare professionals were subject to a qualitative analysis.
RESULTS:
A total of 62 participants from 23 countries provided details of their experiences. While some had received support and validation of their condition, many described a number of difficulties including a lack of awareness or knowledge about PSSD, not being listed to, receiving unsympathetic or inappropriate responses, and a refusal to engage with the published medical literature.
CONCLUSIONS:
Healthcare professionals are nervous about or reluctant to engage with novel problems on a treatment. This is not widely appreciated and the reasons for this concern are not understood.
KEYWORDS:
Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD); antidepressants; erectile dysfunction; genital anaesthesia; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
- PMID:
- 31450514
- DOI:
- 10.3233/JRS-191005
LINK: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31450514
FULL TEXT: https://rxisk.org/pssd-patient-experiences/
