Talking about sex can be uncomfortable. But older adults with heart conditions often have questions they want answered – and new research suggests they may not be getting the information they'd like. A small survey of adults with heart conditions in Sweden found only 5% of people received information about sexual health, despite more than 3 in 4 respondents saying they wanted it.
Health experts say the problem exists in the U.S. as well.
"This isn't the first time we're hearing that there's a gap in this area," said Dr. Michael Blaha, director of clinical research at Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease in Baltimore. He was not involved in the new research.
"It puts numbers to what we generally believe to be true." Study researcher Dr. Tiny Jaarsma, a professor of nursing at the University of Linkoping in Sweden, will present the findings Sunday at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions in Chicago.
They are considered preliminary until full results are published in a peer-reviewed journal. "The need for information is universal and under addressed," she said. Jaarsma and her colleagues conducted an online survey of 135 people in Sweden who were an average 65 years old.
Among respondents, 47% said they had high blood pressure; 36% were heart attack survivors; 30% had atrial fibrillation, or AFib, a type of irregular heart rhythm; and 24% had heart failure, a condition in which the heart isn't pumping enough blood to the rest of the.