Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD)
Conditions
Keywords
Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, HSDD, Cortisol, DHEA, Stress Hormones, Sexual Desire, Mood, Sexual Function, Childhood Maltreatment, Childhood Abuse
Brief summary
Women with Hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD) have all measures of testosterone activity comparable to controls but lower levels of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). Although DHEA is a precursor of testosterone it has other actions including involvement in the stress system. It is also linked to mood. This study focuses on measures of childhood stress, current mood and salivary stress hormones, in women with and without HSDD. We hypothesize that low levels of DHEA reflect dysfunction of the neuroendocrine stress response system involving the brain, pituitary and adrenal glands where DHEA is produced.
Interventions
None listed
Sponsors
University of British Columbia
Study design
Observational model
OTHER
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
19 Years to 65 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
for HSDD Group: * (1) diagnosis of HSDD * (2) over 19 years of age * (3) sexual complaints of low desire of at least 12 months duration. Inclusion criteria for Control group: * (1) sexually healthy, i.e., must not meet criteria for any sexual dysfunction, as determined by a telephone screening, followed by an in-person structured assessment, the Decreased Sexual Desire Screener (DSDS) * (2) over 19 years of age.
Exclusion criteria
for both Control and HSDD groups: * (1) lack of fluency in English * (2) currently meeting DSM-IV-TR diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder as measured by an in-person, semi-structured interview based on the Major Depressive Disorder Module of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR (SCID-I * (3) current use of prescription drugs such as antidepressants or other medications with known sexual side effects (e.g., glucocorticoids, aromatase inhibitors), or known effects on cortisol metabolism, or use of illicit drugs * (4) use of hormone replacement therapy or hormonal contraceptives; * (5) a body mass index (BMI) \<18.5 or \>29.9 * (6) cigarette smoking * (7) chronic medical or psychiatric disease with potential to interfere with sexual function (e.g., chronic neurological disease, cardiac and liver disease, eating disorders, anxiety disorders) * (8) chronic pain with intercourse not relieved by a vaginal lubricant * (9) loss of genital responsiveness * (10) significant relationship discord * (11) not having a family physician who we could contact if depression is diagnosed during the assessment * (12) difficulty in complying with questionnaires or in completing interview.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DHEA levels | Data is collected at 4 time points on 3 separate days | DHEA levels derived from saliva samples. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Depression | data is collected at single time point | Depression will be measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck & Beamesderfer, 1974) |
| Perceived stress | data is collected at a single time point | Perceived stress will be measured with the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (Roberti, Harrington & Storch 2006) |
| Sexual function | data is collected at a single time point | Self-report sexual function will be measured with the Sexual Interest and Desire Inventory (Clayton et al. 2006)) |
| Cortisol levels | Data is collected at 4 time points on 3 separate days | Cortisol levels derived from saliva samples. |
| History of childhood trauma | dat is collected at a single timepoint | History of childhood trauma will be determined with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (Bernstein & Fink, 1995) |
| History of childhood sexual abuse | data is collected at a single time point | History of Childhood Sexual Abuse will be determined with the Childhood Sexual Abuse Measure (Finkelhor, 1979) |
| PTSD symptoms | data is collected at a single time point | Presence and severity of post traumatic stress disorder symptoms will be determined through the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (Blake et al. 1998) |
| Relationship satisfaction | data is collected at a single time point | Relationship satisfaction will be measured with the Relationship Assessment Scale (Hendrick, 1988) and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976) |
Countries
Canada
Outcome results
None listed