Pharmacological interventions for those who have sexually offended or are at risk of offending
Citation: Khan O., Ferriter M., Huband N., et al. Pharmacological interventions for those who have sexually offended or are at risk of offending. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2015, Issue 2.Art.No.:CD007989.DOI:10.1002/14651858.pub2.
No firm conclusions can be drawn regarding pharmacological interventions as an effective intervention for reducing sexual offending.
Biological treatments of sex offenders include antilibidinal medication, comprising hormonal drugs that have a testosterone-suppressing effect, and non-hormonal drugs that affect libido through other mechanisms. This review evaluates the effects of pharmacological interventions on target sexual behavior for people who have been convicted or are at risk of sexual offending. Seven clinical trials met inclusion criteria and were found to be of low quality as seen by their small sample sizes, short duration, inclusion of varied participants, and lack of testing newer drugs currently in use, particularly SSRIs or GnRH analogues. As well, authors had concerns about: number of participants leaving studies, blinding of those who measured outcomes, ways in which investigators concealed allocation of treatment to those delivering it, and reporting of our primary outcome: reoffending. This review stated a need for higher quality research to be conducted on the topic matter.
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