Sexual Dysfunction Status in Iranian Cardiovascular Patients: A Systematic Review

Context: Sexual dysfunction is one of the challenges faced by heart patients. In Iran,
because of the cultural structure, addressing sexual issues and problems is difficult in
these patients and the follow-up of heart problems causes these patients’ sexual relations
to be marginalized. Considering the fact that there is no general conclusion about the
prevalence and types of sexual dysfunction in these patients in the Iranian society,
in order to gain comprehensive knowledge about this phenomenon, this study was
conducted as a systematic review to investigate the sexual dysfunction status in Iranian
heart patients.
Evidence Acquisition: In this systematic review, articles published in Persian and
English were retrieved from Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Medlib, Magiran, SID,
Iranmedex, and Google Scholar databases using keywords without time limits. Then,
the articles meeting the inclusion criteria were studied and analyzed. Out of the 1011
articles retrieved, 12 were reviewed and analyzed. To extract the data, two experienced
researchers reviewed and analyzed the articles simultaneously, and the co-working
professors of the research team evaluated the quality of the articles separately to increase
the validity and reliability of the study.
Results: All reviewed articles were quantitative studies. The results of extracting the
findings indicated male sexual dysfunction, including erectile dysfunction, orgasmic
function, sexual desire, sexual satisfaction, and marital satisfaction. In female patients,
sexual satisfaction and marital satisfaction were impaired.
Conclusions: According to the results, heart diseases caused sexual dysfunction in heart
patients. Patients with heart diseases had significant problems, such as lack of sexual
desire, sexual dissatisfaction, and decreased frequency of sexual activity. Considering
the severity of this disorder in the Iranian society, the treatment team is recommended to
pay serious attention to sexual relations in these patients and consider the improvement
of their sexual function as an integral part of the cardiac rehabilitation function.