Perceived Barriers to Addressing Sexual Issues Among Cardiovascular Patients

Background: Sexuality is an aspect of quality of life that is important for many patients and their partners, but may be adversely affected by a cardiac event. Therefore, it is necessary that cardiologists assess sexual issues among cardiovascular patients. However, most health professionals avoid talking about sex issues due to some barriers. The recognition of these barriers leads to new information that is helpful for future planning and intervention in Iran. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to identify the barriers to discussing sexual issues among cardiovascular patients and to discover cardiologists’ reasons for not addressing sexual issues. Methods: Using a self-made questionnaire, a cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out at the seventeenth national congress on cardiovascular update which was held in 2015, and cardiologists’ answers were gathered and analyzed. Results: The study population consisted of 138 cardiologists (87 male and 51 female) with a mean age of 45.42 years. Analysis of data showed that most of the barriers for discussing sexual issues were “Patient discomfort for discussing about sexual issues,” “Religious and cultural reasons”, “Not having enough time,” “Presence of other person” and “Lack of knowledge and skill in dealing with sexual issues.” Among the demographic characteristics, cardiologists’ gender showed a significant relationship with “Cardiologist discomfort for discussing sexual issues” (P value = 0.005). Female cardiologists had more discomfort than male cardiologists. Conclusions: From the opinion of cardiologists, patients’ uncomfortable feelings, cultural-religious issues and time restrictions were the most important when discussing sexual issues with cardiovascular patients, so these barriers need more attention in the delivery of public health interventions.