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Published on: December 28, 2021
Effects of Sexual Rehabilitation on Sexual Dysfunction in Patients with Cardiovascular Disease: A Systematic Review
Jae Joon Park1, Seung Whan Doo1, Allison Kwon2
1Department of Urology, Soonchunhyang University Seoul Hospital, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Insights
Sexual rehabilitation significantly improves sexual dysfunction in cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients. This approach offers high therapeutic potential, addressing a common issue affecting up to 89% of CVD patients.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Sexual Medicine
- Rehabilitation Medicine
Background:
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of mortality globally.
- Sexual dysfunction affects up to 89% of CVD patients, often due to physical/mental changes or medication side effects.
- Conventional treatments like pharmacotherapy show limited efficacy for sexual problems in CVD patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and meta-analyze the effectiveness of sexual rehabilitation interventions for sexual dysfunction in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Main Methods:
- Comprehensive literature searches were performed across major databases (MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EMBASE) up to June 2022.
- Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) with 95% Confidence Intervals (CIs) were calculated for questionnaire scores.
- Risk of bias assessment was conducted using the RoB 2 tool, and meta-regression analysis was applied.
Main Results:
- Sexual rehabilitation demonstrated a significant overall positive effect (SMD = 0.430, 95% CI: 0.226-0.633) compared to no intervention.
- Improvements were noted at one month (SMD = 0.674) and six months (SMD = 0.320).
- Meta-regression analysis did not reveal significant effects of patient numbers, study duration, or questionnaire types.
Conclusions:
- Sexual rehabilitation is an effective strategy with considerable therapeutic potential for managing sexual dysfunction in cardiovascular disease (CVD) patients.
- Further well-designed, large-scale studies are needed to support clinical application.
- Standardization of sexual rehabilitation protocols is recommended for future research and practice.
Purpose:
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the leading causes of death, accounting for one-third of all deaths worldwide. Patients with CVD are three times more likely to complain of sexual dysfunction than healthy people. Causes of sexual dysfunction in patients with CVD include physical/mental changes and drug side effects. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction in patients with CVD has been estimated to be up to 89%. Ordinary treatments such as pharmacotherapy cannot effectively reduce sexual problems. Therefore, sexual rehabilitation has a broad spectrum, including exercise therapy such as pelvic floor muscle treatment, appropriate counseling, a multidisciplinary approach, and partner rehabilitation. In this study, systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to investigate the effect of sexual rehabilitation on sexual problems in patients with CVD.
Materials And Methods:
Comprehensive literature searches were conducted using MEDLINE, Cochrane Library electronic database, and EMBASE through June 2022. Questionnaire scores at the end point as outcomes of the study were recorded as were standardized mean difference (SMD) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Meta-regression analysis was conducted for each moderator. We performed a risk of bias evaluation for included studies using the RoB 2 tool.
Results:
The overall SMD in the meta-analysis for sexual rehabilitation versus no-sexual rehabilitation was 0.430 (95% CI, 0.226-0.633). There was a statistical difference between groups. SMD changes were 0.674 (95% CI, 0.308-1.039) at one month and 0.320 (95% CI, 0.074-0.565) at six months. The regression analysis with all variables (number of patients, study duration, and questionnaire types) revealed no significance.
Conclusions:
This study indicates that sexual rehabilitation is an effective method with high therapeutic potential for sexual dysfunction of patients with CVD. However, for clinical application, well-designed studies with many patients should be conducted in the future and the standardization of rehabilitation protocols is required.
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