Sociodemographic Profile and Co-morbid Symptoms among Individuals with Semen Loss

Background: Semen loss and associated problems, sometimes known as ‘Dhat syndrome’ or ‘Semen loss anxiety’, are found specially in the cultures of South Asian region including Bangladesh. The aim of this study was to assess the physical, psychological and sexual problems in the patients complaining semen loss. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at the outpatient department of National Institute of Mental Health, Dhaka, Bangladesh. All the male patients (aged 18-60 years) with self-reported complaints of semen loss were included in the study. Within three months, data were collected from 95 respondents through face to face interview with a semistructured questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. Results: Mean age of the respondents was 23.7 (±5.1) years. Almost half (47.4%) of the respondents belonged to the age group of 21-30 years. Majority of them was Muslim (94.7%), married (54.7%), completed primary education (42.1%), currently unemployed (46.3%) and resided in urban area (87.4%), Most of the respondents complained of semen loss through urine (57.9%), followed by through night emission (18.9%) and masturbation (16.8%). All respondents complained more than one other symptom. Common physical symptoms were physical weakness (89.8%) and vertigo (50.5%), psychological symptoms were anxiety (49.8%) and depression (38.9%) and sexual symptoms were premature ejaculation (42.1%) and erectile dysfunction (31.6%). Conclusion: There were various other physical, psychological and sexual problems among the patients with the complaints of semen loss. So, other symptoms should be considered and managed when dealing with these patients. Bangladesh J Medicine July 2022; 33(1) : 64-69

The Effect of Gender and Body Image Satisfaction on Sexual Function in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer Treated with Radiotherapy/Chemoradiotherapy

Aims: The study was was conducted to determine the changes in sexual functions and the effect of gender and body image satisfaction on sexual function in patients with head and neck cancer who received radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy after starting treatment. Methods: Forty three patients who underwent radiotherapy, radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT) due to the diagnosis of head and neck cancer between October 2019 and March 2020 were included in the descriptive and correlational study. Research data were collected using the Structured Information Form, Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale and Body Image Satisfaction Scale at two different times, before and 6 weeks after the start of treatment. Results: Most of the patients participating in the study were male (55.8%) and married (74.4%). In the study, 69.8% of the patients had disease stages 1 and 2, and 65.1% of the patients had cancer in the pharynx and larynx. It was determined that 72.1% of the patients did not have a sexual problem before the diagnosis, and 90.7% of them had sexual problems after the diagnosis. There was a significant difference between the mean Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale scores of the patients before and after 6 weeks of RT/CRT (p<0.01); gender and Body Image Satisfaction Scale score significantly affected Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale score (R2=0.656, p<0.01). Conclusion: The treatment process in patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer undergoing RT/CRT causes sexual problems and worsening in sexual functions. Gender and body image satisfaction affect sexual function by 66%.

Attention Bias and Recognition of Sexual Images in Depression

Depression greatly affects sexuality. Theoretical and empirical evidence account for the existence of attention bias to sex-related stimuli. This attention bias might be impaired in depression, resulting in sexual problems. A sample of 13 patients with depression and 13 matched healthy controls were tested using the dot-probe and picture recognition task to measure attention to erotic images. No difference in attention to sex-related stimuli (ω2 = 0, p = 0.22) and in memory bias (ω2 = 0, p = 0.72) was found between the two groups. Explorative analyses were conducted to identify the sexual content-induced delay effect in the data, assess variability differences, and compare trial-level bias score-based indexes between groups. Across all analyses, there was little evidence for depression affecting sexual-related cognitive processing, and even this might be explained by other means. Our results suggest that restrained attention is probably not the main factor behind sexual problems in depression.