Examination of sexual quality of life and shock anxiety of patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators

Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the sexual quality of life and shock anxiety of patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Method: It is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The study was conducted with 167 patients with ICD who apply to Cardiology clinic and outpatient clinic in Izmir Education and Research Hospital, meet the including criteria. Patient Characteristic Questionnaire, Florida Shock Anxiety Scale, Sexual Quality of Life Questionnaire-Female, Sexual Quality of life Questionnaire-Male forms were used. Mean, standard deviation, number, percentage correlation and multipleregression analysis were used in order to analyze the data of the study. Results: Florida Shock Anxiety Scale score of the patients was found to be 17.23 ± 7.90. The mean sexual quality of life score of the female patients was 65.78 ± 22.19 and the mean quality of sexual life of male patients was 70.91 ± 22.27. There was a negative and weak correlation between shock anxiety levels and total sexual quality of life (r= -.299, p=.000). In the regression analysis, it was found that female gender and age significantly affected the level of shock anxiety (ß=0.257, p=0.001; ß=-0.318, p=0.000). It was found that age and shock anxiety significantly affected the level of sexual quality of life (ß=-0.493, p=0.000; ß=-0.472, p=0.000). Conclusions: It was found that the patients' Florida shock anxiety scores were low and the quality of sexual life was good. There was a weak negative correlation between shock anxiety and sexual quality of life.It is recommended that patients with ICD should routinely evaluate shock anxiety and quality of sexual life and provide patient-specific training as a result of evaluation. Keywords: Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, Shock Anxiety, Sexual Quality of Life, Nursing