The sexuality of climateric women who have heart disease
International Journal of Development Research
The sexuality of climateric women who have heart disease
Received 17th April, 2019; Received in revised form 03rd May, 2019; Accepted 19th June, 2019; Published online 31st July, 2019
Copyright © 2019, Leide Thayane Rolim Cantanhede et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Introduction: Approaching sexuality is a complex task. The discussion of this subject is superficial, oblivious to the needs and does not permeate all institutions. This hinders the necessary interventions to promote active sexuality. Objective: To investigate the sexuality of climacteric women with heart disease. Material and methods: Thirteen (13) women were selected from a database of a larger project (40 women) through non-probabilistic sampling. Data were collected through individual interviews in January and February 2016 at the Cardiology Outpatient Clinic of the Hospital of the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), after approval by the Ethics Committee of the Nursing School of Ribeirão under number 293,900. Inclusion criteria were women between the ages of 45 and 65 who had heart disease and had climacteric symptoms according to the Menopause Rating Scale. The Sexual Quotient - Female version was used as data collection tool. Results: In relation to heart disease, the women described tachycardia, palpitation, dyspnea, fatigue, dizziness and asthenia as the more frequent symptoms and they related sexual dissatisfaction with the presence of discomfort, pain, decreased lubrication, tiredness, shortness of breath, dizziness and anxiety. Women presented sexual performance considered null or nonexistent (31%) and sexual function was classified as bad to unfavorable, not presenting satisfaction (38%). Sexuality is not addressed in consultations with health professionals. Most participants reported that due to the fear, anxiety, concern and insistence of the spouse they chose to wait from two weeks to nine months to resume sexual activity and demonstrated dissatisfaction with sexuality, explaining that this was not a priority, or important, or part of their lives. Conclusion: Guidance to patients regarding aspects of sexuality during the outpatient follow-up is fundamental. Health professionals should be aware of this and should encourage the clientele to express their sexuality.
