Background: Regular consumption of opioids exposes individuals to several side effects. One of these is a loss of libido, which has a negative impact on quality of life. We used a cross-sectional community-based survey of people who inject opioids to study factors associated with loss of libido, and more particularly the impact of the type of opioid injected.
Methods: This secondary study was conducted throughout France in 2015 and involved 514 people who inject opioids. Self-reported sociodemographic characteristics, drug consumption, injection-related data and loss of libido were collected using a brief questionnaire administered either through face-to-face interviews or online. Two different models were used to identify factors associated with loss of libido: simple logistic regression and a two-step Heckman model.
Results: Forty-three percent of the participants reported a loss of libido. The first model showed that filling in the questionnaire online (OR[95%CI] = 2.55[1.64;3.96]; p Conclusion: Our findings showed that full-opioid agonists could have a negative impact on libido when injected regularly. Libido can improve quality of life and should be routinely discussed through counseling in prevention services with people who inject drugs.

Highlights:
This study investigates the impact of the type of opioids injected on libido.
Type of questioning (online or face-to-face) shows libido is still a taboo subject.
The type of opioid used plays a significant role in how serious the libido loss is.
Buprenorphine appears to be the opioid with the weakest effect.