Abstract
Sexual dysfunction has been extensively studied in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) patients. However, little data is available regarding sexual inactivity in the MMT patient population. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence and putative risk factors for sexual inactivity in the MMT patient population. This cross-sectional study involved 25–71 year old MMT patients recruited from six methadone clinics. Two hundred and seventy-one patients were interviewed for demographic characteristics, comorbidities, concurrent medications used, and sexual activity. The prevalence of sexual inactivity in the MMT population was found to be 47.6%. Increasing age (p < 0.01) and being single/divorced (p < 0.01) were significantly associated with sexual inactivity. In subgroup analysis, increasing age was significantly associated with sexual inactivity in both single/divorced (p < 0.05) and married (p < 0.05) subgroups, while unemployment (p < 0.05) was only significantly associated with sexual inactivity in the earlier subgroup. Our results suggest that sexual inactivity is common in the MMT patient population. The putative risk factors are related to biological and sociocultural factors. Having specific comorbidities or being on certain medications were not correlated with sexual inactivity in the MMT population. Routine assessment of sexual problems is essential, and proper management should be performed for MMT patients.
Highlights
This study found that the proportion of sexual inactivity in maintenance treatment (MMT) patients was four times higher than in the buprenorphine replacement treatment (BMT) group [18]
This study aimed to determine the prevalence of sexual inactivity and putative risk factors associated with sexual inactivity in the MMT population
This study provides insight regarding the high prevalence of sexual inactivity and the need to explore the reasons for this condition
Summary
Its long duration of action, reserve for tolerance effect [1], and its ability to control illicit opioid use [2], makes it favorable as a replacement therapy. Methadone is indicated for opioid use disorder to manage opioid addiction and has been proven to reduce harmful drug-seeking behavior [2]. In Malaysia, the methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) program was introduced back in 2005 as part of the harm reduction program for people who inject drugs (PWID) [3,4]. Even though the number of opioid users had decreased by half in 2017, the number of patients on MMT remained high [3]. According to the Malaysian national key population estimates report in
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