Authors

• Điđi Delalić — University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0003-2102-2586
• Nora Knez — University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0002-4933-4947
• Ingrid Prkačin — University of Zagreb School of Medicine, Zagreb, Croatia — ORCID: 0000-0002-5830-7131

Keywords

cardiovascular disease, patient education, sexual dysfunction

DOI

Full Text

**Introduction**: The burden of cardiovascular disease on both the healthcare system and patients’ quality of life is a topic that has been discussed and researched a lot through the years, in part owing to the transition from a strictly mechanistic approach to disease to a biopsychosocial one that incorporates many different factors besides the pathophysiologic mechanism and objective parameters of disease activity. (1-3) However, it often feels that some aspects are still not talked about often enough, one of which is the effect that cardiovascular disease has on sexual behavior and function of humans. **Materials and Methods**: A search of the literature has been performed in the MEDLINE, Google Scholar and Web of Science databases using combinations of keywords “cardiovascular disease”, “sexual behavior”, “sexual function”, “sexual dysfunction”. **Results**: Narrative reviews, original research papers and professional society guidelines were examined to extrapolate data and recommendations regarding sexual activity and behavior in patients suffering from cardiovascular disease. The resulting paper describes ways in which physiologic changes that occur in cardiovascular disease impact sexual function, the influence of cardiovascular medications on sexual function and behavior and several recommendations for sexual behavior and habit modifications that improve patient health and protect them from risk of unwanted cardiovascular events. **Conclusion**: The combination of altered physiology and medications used to treat cardiovascular disease significantly impacts normal sexual function. Seeing as sexuality is recognized as a basic human right and fundamental need with a significant impact on quality of life, some attention should be diverted to educating patients how to maintain normal and healthy sexual function despite suffering from cardiovascular disease.

Literature

1. Levine GN, Steinke EE, Bakaeen FG, Bozkurt B, Cheitlin MD, Conti JB, et al. Sexual activity and cardiovascular disease: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2012 February 28;125(8):1058–72. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIR.0b013e3182447787
2. Lee S, Chae J, Cho Y. Causes of sudden death related to sexual activity: results of a medicolegal postmortem study from 2001 to 2005. J Korean Med Sci. 2006 December;21(6):995–9. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2006.21.6.995
3. Jaarsma T, Steinke EE, Gianotten WL. Sexual problems in cardiac patients: how to assess, when to refer. J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2010 March-April;25(2):159–64. https://doi.org/10.1097/JCN.0b013e3181c60e7c