Am J Psychiatry 1995; 152:1045-1051
Copyright © 1995 by American Psychiatric Association
Chronic alcoholism and male sexual function
RC Schiavi, BB Stimmel, J Mandeli and D White
Department of Psychiatry and Biomathematical Sciences, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY 10029-6574, USA.
OBJECTIVE: The relation between chronic alcohol abuse and male sexuality
remains uncertain. This study assessed the effect of chronic alcoholism on
sexual function, marital adjustment, sleep-related erections, sleep
disorders, and hormone levels during abstinence from alcohol. METHOD:
Twenty chronically alcoholic men, aged 28-59 years, without evidence of
severe hepatic disease and free from unrelated medical illnesses, were
assessed 2-36 months after achieving sobriety and compared to a group of 20
nonalcoholic volunteers. Each subject and his sexual partner underwent
semistructured interviews and completed several questionnaires; the men had
medical and psychiatric evaluations and polygraphic assessment of sleep
parameters and nocturnal penile tumescence during 4 nights, with the last
night devoted to sequential blood sampling for evaluation of hormone
levels. RESULTS: The alcoholic men did not differ from the comparison group
in any sexual dimension or in the prevalence of sexual problems despite the
significant marital dissatisfaction reported by their sexual partners. In
addition, there were no differences between groups in sleep and nocturnal
penile tumescence measures. The alcoholic group had a greater prevalence of
periodic leg movement disorders but no respiratory abnormalities during
sleep. Except for a significant overnight increase in plasma luteinizing
hormone in the alcoholic men, there were no differences between groups in
total and bioavailable testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and prolactin or
in the nocturnal circadian changes in testosterone and prolactin levels.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that prolonged and severe alcohol abuse
in men is compatible with normal sexual function during sobriety in the
absence of substantial hepatic or gonadal failure.
