Abstract
INTRODUCTION: There is a lack of studies regarding sexuality and sexual behavior
in women with bipolar disorder. The aim of this study is to investigate sexual
behavior in women affected by bipolar disorder in order to stimulate interest and
debate in this area of care. METHODS: Sixty women (30 BD I and 30 BD II) consent
to participate in the study and were included in the sample. Moreover, sixty
female healthy subjects without histories of psychiatric disorders were recruited
as normal controls. Patients and healthy subjects were given the Sexual Interest
and Sexual Performance Questionnaire, a questionnaire devised to explore various
aspects of sexual behavior. RESULTS: The results of the present study suggest an
increase of sexual interest in patients with BD I as compared both with BD II
patients and healthy controls. In women with BD I such increase of interest was
detected on some items of section I of the Sexual Interest and Sexual Performance
Questionnaire, in particular "Actual Value of Sexuality" and "Implicit Sexual
Interest", which implicitly explore sexual interest without overtly focusing upon
sexual problems. Moreover, we observed a higher desired frequency of intercourse
in women with BD I than BD II and a higher occurrence of repeated sexual
intercourse in women with BD I than BD II. CONCLUSIONS: The main finding of the
present study was an increase of sexual interest in BD I as compared with BD II
female patients and normal controls. This result was detected when sexual
interest was explored implicitly. Our study is limited by the small size of our
subject groups. Further investigations on larger subject samples are needed to
better clarify particular aspects of sexual behavior of BD patients.
PMID: 21130498 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Lingua originale | English |
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pagine (da-a) | 364-367 |
Numero di pagine | 4 |
Rivista | Journal of Affective Disorders |
Volume | 131 |
DOI | |
Stato di pubblicazione | Pubblicato - 2011 |
Keywords
- Bipolar Disorder
- Sexual Behavior
- Women