Prevalence of sexual dysfunction in Chinese patients with schizophrenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: There may be a higher risk of sexual dysfunction in the schizophrenia population. China has made significant contributions to the global community of patients with schizophrenia. Currently, there is no estimation of the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in Chinese patients with schizophrenia.

Aim: We conducted a meta-analysis to pool the evaluated prevalence of sexual dysfunction in Chinese patients with schizophrenia.

Methods: We systematically searched PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, PsycINFO, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, China Science and Technology Journal Database, Wanfang Medical Network, and Huayi Academic Literature Database from inception to September 2023. Meta-analysis was conducted with R version 4.3.1.

Outcomes: To examine the pooled prevalence of sexual dysfunctions among Chinese patients with schizophrenia.

Results: In our meta-analysis, we included 16 studies with 5417 participants, among whom 1727 experienced sexual dysfunction. The results of the meta-analysis reveal that the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in Chinese patients with schizophrenia is 50.43% (95% CI, 37.86%-62.95%). Subgroup analysis results indicate that various factors-including the specific type of dysfunction, duration of illness, assessment tools, mean ages, study region, gender, research setting, marital status, publication years, and type of antipsychotics-all have a particular impact on the occurrence rate of sexual dysfunction in Chinese patients with schizophrenia. Female patients had a slightly higher prevalence of sexual dysfunction than male patients (65.22% vs 54.84%).

Clinical implications: The findings of this study can be used in high-quality nursing care for the schizophrenia population, particularly for the care of specific sexual dysfunction nursing.

Strengths and limitations: This meta-analysis is the first to evaluate the prevalence of sexual dysfunction in China among patients with schizophrenia. The limited number of studies is the most important limitation.

Conclusions: The pooled prevalence of sexual dysfunction in Chinese patients with schizophrenia is relatively high, and the prevention and intervention of individual sexual dysfunctions in schizophrenia are advised.

Keywords: China; meta-analysis; schizophrenia; sexual dysfunction; systematic review.