After having a heart attack, most patients don't get counseling on sexual activity, according to a press release regarding research in the American Heart Association journal "Circulation."
Between August 2008 and January 2012, 3,501 heart attack patients were interviewed once in the hospital and then again one month after they returned home. The patients were all from the United States or Spain, the median age was 48 and two-thirds of participants were female.
During the telephone interview a month after their heart attacks, 12 percent of women and 19 percent of men said their healthcare provider counseled them on resuming sexual activity. Most of those interviewed said they had been sexually active in the year prior to their heart attacks, the American Heart Association reported.
"Even with life-threatening illness, people value their sexual function and believe it is appropriate for healthcare providers to raise the issue of resuming sexual activity," said lead study author, Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau. (Lindau is also an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology and geriatric medicine and director of the Program in Integrative Sexual Medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center, according to the press release).
Those few who did receive counseling were told to restrict their activity to levels below the medical guidelines. Patients were told to limit sex, be passive in bed and to keep their heart rate down, according to the report.
"Healthcare providers should let their patients know that for most it is OK to resume physical activity, including sexual activity, and to return to work," Lindau said, according to the press release. "They can tell their patients to stop the activity and notify them if they experience chest pain, shortness of breath or other concerning symptoms. If the healthcare provider doesn't raise the issues, I encourage patients to ask outright: 'Is it OK for me to resume sexual activity? When? Is there anything I should look out for?'"
Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally. About 720,000 heart attacks occur in the United States each year, according to the American Heart Association, and 20 percent of heart attacks happen to people between the ages of 18 and 55.
