ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To explore the effect of undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting on sexual quality of life as an integral part of patients' health-related quality of life. METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 265 men ages 18 to 60 years (median age, 55) who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting 1 to 5 years before the study. Standardized questionnaires were implemented to evaluate participant pre- and postoperative sexual quality of life and the quality of counseling provided to patients. RESULTS: Among the patients, 77% were in a steady relationship. The general health score was 5.5 ± 2.8 (mean ± standard deviation) preoperatively and 6 ± 2.2 at follow-up (P = .01). No sexual counseling was given to 83% and 77% of the patients pre- and postoperatively, respectively. The mean sexual satisfaction score dropped from 6.5 ± 2.6 preoperatively to 4.7 ± 3 postoperatively (P < .001). The decline in sexual intercourse frequency and masturbation frequency was significant (P < .001 and P = .006, respectively). Linear regression analysis showed that general health status (P = .008), higher-quality counseling (P = .027), and preoperative sexual quality of life (P < .001) correlated positively with sexual quality of life, whereas sternal pain (P < .001), erectile dysfunction (P < .001), and fear of excessive cardiac burden (P < .001) correlated negatively. CONCLUSIONS: Middle-aged men experience decreased sexual quality of life after coronary artery bypass grafting. Preoperative sexual quality of life, general health, and higher-quality counseling positively affect postoperative sexual quality of life, whereas sternal pain, fear, and erectile dysfunction play a negative role. Pre- and postoperative care guidelines should be improved. Further prospective large cohort studies for males and females are required.
Subject(s)
Coronary Artery Bypass/adverse effects , Erectile Dysfunction/etiology , Postoperative Complications/etiology , Quality of Life , Sexual Behavior/psychology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Adolescent , Adult , Coronary Artery Bypass/psychology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Erectile Dysfunction/epidemiology , Erectile Dysfunction/psychology , Follow-Up Studies , Germany/epidemiology , Humans , Incidence , Male , Middle Aged , Postoperative Complications/epidemiology , Postoperative Complications/psychology , Postoperative Period , Retrospective Studies , Young AdultABSTRACT
Much early sexological research, indeed the very concept of sexology, was the work of German Jews. Hitler's rise to power first curtailed, then prevented, and finally destroyed all German sex research and a flourishing sex reform movement. Once the scientific and scholarly study of sex had come to an end, the sexual ideology-of Nazism, which was antisemitic, antifeminist, and homophobic, could easily be put into practice. The official persecution of German homosexuals between 1933 and 1945 is discussed as a typical policy of a régime which rejected the rational and critical approach to sexual questions.
