To Compare the Frequency of Sexual Dysfunction Associated With Risperidone, Olanzapine, and Quetiapine, Among Patients With Clinically Stable Schizophrenia.

Sexual dysfunction can be caused by variety of physical and psychological causes like ageing process, thriving condition, medical illness, psychiatric diseases, drugs. Among the drugs anti hypertensives, antihistamines, diuretics, anti-depressants, benzodiazepines and antipsychotics are the common drugs causing sexual impairment. Sexual dysfunction is one of the commonest problem among the common people and people suffering from psychiatric diseases and people who are in treatment with psychotic medicines. Sexual dysfunction is very rarely reported spontaneously by patients, therefore, clinical trials of antipsychotic medicine depend on spontaneous reporting by patients to assess side effects on sexual dysfunction. Studies done so far has revealed significant rate of sexual impairment is seen with both atypical and typical antipsychotics and this side effect is particularly Important in many ways. It affects their self-esteem and causes problem for their sexual partners, compromises treatment compliance, interferes with their quality of life. Sexual dysfunction is one of the commonest problem in mood disorders, schizophrenia, and all other psychotic disorders. The reported prevalence of sexual dysfunction is 40 -80% in women and 45-85% in men. Atypical antipsychotics have been prescribed for treatment of schizophrenia now a days. The most common antipsychotics prescribed are risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, arpiprazole, ziprasidone, and amisulphride. Atyical antipsychotics have wide range of action over positive, negative, affective, and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. When compared to typical antipsychotics, atypical antipsychotics produce less extra pyramidal symptoms like tremos, rigidity, tardive dyskinesia, dystonia, neuroleptic malignant syndrome and said to cause least sexual side effects. Now a days atypical antipsychotics are prescribed not only for psychosis or schizophrenia, they are prescribed for mania, bipolar disorders, bipolar depression, a typical depression, to control the behavioral disturbances in disruptive disorders, mental retardation, and treatment resistant depression. So although there are many mechanism by which antipsychotics cause sexual dysfunction, this study proves that hyperprolactinemia plays important role in causing sexual impairment. Risperidone being the drug causing hyperprolactenemia markedly,it causes more impairment in sexual dysfunction in both