Management of sexual activity of coronary disease patients by the cardiologist

Abstract

The sexual activity of patients with myocardial infarction is often overlooked. Studies on the return guidelines sex life after acute coronary event revealed a large number of patients without information about the care to restart the affective life. This lack of guidance creates fear and anxiety and can lead to a poorer quality of sexual life. The objective was to study the profile of the cardiologist in the care of patients with coronary artery disease and the approach on aspects of sexual life. This study is observational, cross-sectional and non-random. The study subjects were medical specialists in cardiology, with a mean age of 43.2 years, 49 males and 21 females. Professionals answered an anonymous questionnaire self-administered, held during scientific meetings and national conferences. The main question was regarding the approach to the patient about their sexual activity after the episode of myocardial infarction, with the following question: evaluate on a scale from 1 (never) to 4 (always) how often do you approach the subject sexual activity. Questionnaires were placed in an urn and confidentiality of data kept in secrecy. With regard to the approach to the patient, 58.6% of professionals said they never initiate the subject sexual activity or do it sporadically. There was no difference in frequency of approach between medical men and women or between age groups, marital status or academic qualification of professionals. Although non-random, our data reveal the difficulty of the professionals to discussing issues involving the inner private life issues of his patients. The data also show the importance of encouraging cardiologists to begin an open dialogue in the office with patients and their spouses. This orientation should be part of the team care approach to health and should encourage the return to social, work, recreational and sexual activities.