Women with bipolar I disorder (BDI) have higher levels of sexual interest than those with bipolar II disorder (BDII) and mentally healthy women, research suggests.

“Patients with BD disorder warrant special consideration with regard to sexual health because the nature of the manic, or hypomanic, mood state is associated in some cases with sexually risky transmitted diseases,” write Marianna Mazza (Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy) and colleagues in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

However, they add that “there is a lack of studies regarding sexuality and sexual behavior in women with BD.”

The team therefore interviewed 30 women with BDI, 30 with BDII, and 60 mentally health women (controls) using the Sexual Interest and Sexual Performance Questionnaire (SISPQ), which is designed to explore various aspects of sexual behavior.

All of the women were aged between 18 and 60 years and had an IQ greater than 70.

The researchers found that women with BDI scored significantly higher on the “implicit sexual interest” and “actual value of sexuality” items of the SISPQ than BDII patients and controls, with mean scores of 5.6 versus 3.9 and 3.7, and 4.3 versus 2.6 and 2.4, respectively.

BDI patients also scored significantly higher on the “desired frequency of sexual intercourse” and the “occurrence of repeated intercourse” items of the SISPQ than BDII patients and controls, with mean scores of 3.9 versus 2.9 and 2.6, and 1.5 versus 0.5 and 0.6, respectively.

There was no significant correlation between sexual interest and medication doses in the BD patients, the researchers note.

Mazza and team conclude: “The results of the present study suggest an increase of sexual interest in patients with BDI as compared to both BDII patients and healthy controls.”

They add: “Further investigations on larger subject samples are needed to better clarify particular aspects of sexual behavior of BD patients.”

MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a trading division of Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2010

Free abstract

• Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorder Share Genetic Roots
• Mental Health America Applauds Bipartisan Legislation To Help Treat Depression And Bipolar Disorders
• AstraZeneca Traveling Exhibit Helps Americans Understand And Manage Bipolar Depression
• Stanford To Offer Bipolar Education Day On July 25

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.