Objectives:

To analyse the effects of a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program (CRP) on quality of life and sexual activity levels in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD).

Method:

A total of 25 patients (22 men and 3 women) were included in a study that consisted of the analysis of any defibrillator discharges, their repercussion on the couple, and the effects of CRP on physical and psychological aspects, and on sexual activity (SA).

Results:

The mean age of the patients was 55 years (22 to 79). Initially, fear for device discharges was present in all patients. On arrival, 14 patients (56%) did not have any SA: 2 with ages of 69 and 79 years; one woman due to severe anxiety; an alcoholic man, and 10 because the ICD had been implanted less than 1 month before. Nine men and two women had restarted SA: 5 of them 5-52 months after the implantation, and the other 6, 30 days after implantation of the ICD while attending the CRP. At the end of the study, 21 patients had regained SA. Two men had clinical signs of depression and anxiety, with one requiring specialised treatment. Functional capacity improved significantly, 6.5 ± 3.0 METs at the beginning of the program and 9.2 ± 3.3 METs at the end, with a P < .005. There was only one inappropriate discharge.

Conclusions:

Discharges caused by newest devices have dropped significantly. This fact, together with the action of CRP at physical, psychological, and informative levels, makes it possible to control the dysfunctions in the quality of life and sexuality in patients.

© 2017 Instituto Nacional de Cardiología Ignacio Chávez. Published by Masson Doyma México S.A. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).