Objective: The main objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of erectile dysfunction (ED) and its predictive factor(s) in male patients on methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) attending the Drug Clinic, Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted between October 1 and December 30, 2008. A total of 108 subjects participated in the study. The instruments used include the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-IV Axis-I Disorder (SCID-I), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and International Index of Erectile Function-15 (IIEF-15).
Results: The mean age of the participants was 44.6 ± 9 years. The rate of ED among men on MMT was 68.5% (mild ED was 36.1 %, mild to moderate was 22.2% and severe ED was 3.7%). There were significant associations between age of respondents (p=0.002), concurrent illicit heroin use (p=0.024), and age of the respondents' partners (p=0.039) with ED. After multivariate analysis, it was found that increased age is the only significant predictor of ED with an adjusted odds ratio of 1.07 (1.02-1.16). The methadone dose and duration of methadone treatment were not significantly associated with ED.
Conclusions: ED was highly prevalent among male patients on MMT. While current practice in dosage and duration of MMT in Malaysia did not have any significant impact on ED, sexual function needs to be routinely assessed in patients on methadone.