Sexualleben remittierter depressiver Patientinnen

Effect of vitamins on sexual function: A systematic review

Sexual dysfunction can adversely affect the quality of life, self-confidence, and interpersonal relationships. Some studies reported a relationship between vitamin supplementation and sexual health. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effect of vitamins on female and male sexual function. All relevant English and Persian articles published in English databases (Medline, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Sciences, Psycho-Info, and Proquest) and Farsi databases (SID and Magiran) until July 2020 were searched. The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions was used for assessing the risks of bias. A total of 11 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on 337 women, 472 men, and 35 couples were included. One study reported that vitamin D 300000 IU supplement administrated twice through intramuscular injection (at the beginning and after four weeks) had a significant effect on female sexual function (p<0.05), whereas another study showed that vitamin D 2000 IU supplement for six months did not have any significant effect on female sexual function (p>0.05). A study reported the significant effect of niacin (vitamin B3) 1500 mg daily for 12 weeks on erectile function (p=0.004). The results showed that vitamins A, C, and E had no significant effect on male and female sexual function. The conduction of trials with long-term interventions is recommended to reach a more definitive conclusion about the effect of vitamins on sexual function.

[The effects of depressive symptoms on quality of life, sexual satisfaction and cognitive performance after orthotopic liver transplantation]

BACKGROUND

Our cross-sectional study aimed to explore the existence of depressive symptoms among orthotopic liver transplantation recipients and to investigate how depressive symptoms are linked to health-related quality of life, sexual satisfaction and cognitive performance.

METHODS

We recruited 76 liver transplantation recipients. All patients were treated at the Department of Surgery, Division of Transplantation Surgery, University of Medicine of Graz, Graz, Austria. The psychometric observer-rating scale Hamilton Depression Scale was administered to evaluate depressive symptoms. Cognitive performance was based on the SKT. The data on health-related quality of life were obtained from the SF-36 and the data on sexual satisfaction were obtained from the FLZ.

RESULTS

After the orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) 53,9% (n = 41) of the sample suffered from depressive symptoms. Impaired sexual functioning and impaired cognitive performance are a common feature in liver transplantation recipients with depressive symptoms. In the sample of patients suffering from depressive symptoms significant impairments in health-related quality of life were found in all SF-36 domains.

CONCLUSIONS

Liver transplantation recipients may face a major risk of liver transplantation-related depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms are highly associated with impairments in quality of life, sexual satisfaction and cognitive performance.