The effects of coronary bypass surgery on female sexual, psychological, and vocational adaptation

Abstract

This paper reports the first study of female sexual, psychological, and vocational adaptation to coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG). Semistructured interviews were used to obtain data on 17 women undergoing CABG. Four time periods were examined: prior to and after the onset of cardiac symptoms; four months and one year after CABG. Female sexual response differs from what is known about male adaptation to CABG in three ways: 1) women did not demonstrate a significant and profound decline in frequency of intercourse one year after surgery; 2) the component most vulnerable to disruption in women is desire, in men it is arousal; 3) women do not harbor the sexual fears commonly seen in men such as sudden death during intercourse or performance anxiety. Psychologically, women fared better than men, but were less likely to return to work. This indicates that more attention should be directed toward vocational counseling of working women undergoing CABG.