The study was aimed at determining the incidence of changes in sexual function and identifying the possible associated variables of erectile dysfunction (ED) in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients undergoing coronary stenting. Four hundred and sixty-seven patients were retrospectively contacted with a questionnaire regarding sexual function from 6 months pre-stenting to 6 months post-stenting by telephone follow up. Univariate analyses were used to determine prognostic variables. ED changed following stenting in CAD (P < 0.05), in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) (P > 0.05) and in chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) (P < 0.05). Sexual activity was not resumed in 8.1%, was unchanged in 33.8%, increased in 0% and decreased in 58.0%. The average frequency of sexual activity decreased every month in CAD (P < 0.05), in ACS (P < 0.05) and in CCS (P < 0.01) after undergoing coronary stenting respectively. The mean time interval between the onset of ED and CAD was 33 months. Resuming sexual activity after stenting varied from 2 weeks to 30 months. Significant predictors of ED after coronary stenting were mean age, diabetes mellitus, 2,3-vessel disease or current smoking status. It was concluded that coronary stenting had a significant incidence of ED. Mean age, diabetes mellitus, 2,3-vessel disease or current smoking status showed to be the main variables associated with ED. Attempts to improve individual secondary prevention outcomes (controlling serum glucose and smoking cessation) should be designed.

BackgroundDietary salt restriction is recommended by many guidelines for patients with heart failure (HF). Quality of life (QoL) is an important end point of this intervention. However, the literature is still limited regarding the effect of dietary salt restriction on QoL in patients with HF.AimsWe performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effect of dietary sodium restriction on QoL in patients with HF.MethodsWe searched PubMed (MEDLINE), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), EMBASE, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health from the establishment of each database to December 20, 2020. We included randomized controlled trials with sodium restriction as an intervention. The primary outcome was QoL, and the secondary outcomes were mortality, readmission, and fatigue. We obtained the full text of potentially relevant trials, extracted data from the included trials, assessed their risk of bias, and performed a meta-analysis.ResultsWe included 10 trials (1011 participants with HF) with 7 days to 83 months of follow-up. Dietary sodium restriction did not improve QoL over the long term (>30 days) (P = .61). The pooled effects showed that this intervention might increase mortality risk (P < .00001). It did not reduce the readmission rate within the short term (≤30 days) (P = .78) but increased the readmission rate over the long term (P = .0003).ConclusionOur study did not show that interventions to restrict dietary sodium had a positive effect on patients with HF in terms of QoL, mortality, or readmission.

Aims Even though self-care is essential in the long-term management of Heart failure (HF), it is often not performed adequately in HF populations. Mobilizing informal caregivers may be one way to help patients perform self-care, support individual needs and maintain health. However, informal caregivers often face insufficient preparation for providing long-term care. This insufficient caregiver preparedness may lead to a decline in caregiver contributions and affect the outcomes of care in patients with HF. This study aimed to explore whether informal caregiver's preparedness is a predictor which influences short-term outcomes of HF patients; to analyze whether caregiver contribution to self-care of HF (CC-SCHF) plays a mediating role between informal caregiver's preparedness and HF short-term outcomes. Methods and results A prospective observational study was conducted in China. After controlling for covariates, higher levels of informal caregiver's preparedness was significantly associated with lower 3-month mortality[OR = 0.919, 95% CI = (0.855, 0.988), P = 0.022] and 3-month readmission rate [OR = 0.883, 95% CI = (0.811,0.961), P＜0.004] and shorter length of hospital stay (β=-0.071, P &lt; 0.001). The informal caregiver's preparedness was positively associated with CC-SCHF-maintenance (r = 0.708, p &lt; 0.01), CC-SCHF-management (r = 0.431, p &lt; 0.01), and CC-SCHF-confidence (r = 0.671, p &lt; 0.01). The CC-SCHF-management was a mediator in the relationship between informal caregiver's preparedness and 3-month readmission rate [effect 95% CI = (-0.054, -0.001)] and length of hospital stay [effect 95% CI = (-0.235, -0.042)]. Conclusion Higher level of informal caregiver's preparedness is associated with better short-term outcomes of HF patients with insufficient self-care.