Heart failure is a major public health problem in sub Saharan Africa, associated with high morbidity and mortality. Sexual dysfunction (SD) contributes a lot to the burden of the disease. This complication is linked to the side effects of drugs, physical and psychological factors, and the coexistence of shared risk factors between heart failure and sexual dysfunction. Few data are available in our context. This research seeks to determine the prevalence and risk factors of SD in patients with chronic heart failure in three reference hospitals of Cameroon.

We carried out an analytical cross-sectional study over a period of four months (January to April 2018). All consenting patient with chronic heart failure aged 18 years and above were selected. Baseline socio-demographical and clinical characteristics were collected. The assessment of SD was made using a self-administered, the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale. Data analysis was done using the software IBM SPSS 23.0; the level of statistical significance was set at P<5%.

A total of 170 patients with chronic heart failure were recruited, the mean age was 60.46±10.66 years old, with a female predominance (sex-ratio=0.78). The prevalence of sexual dysfunction was 57.7%. The main sexual disorders were: Sexual desire disorders (21.65%), vaginal lubrication disorders (20%) in women, erectile disorders in men (17.3%), orgasmic dysfunction (7.22%), arousal disorders (4.44%) and sexual satisfaction disorders (1%). The independent risks factors of SD were: Female gender (P=0.008), age>60 years (P=0.001), hypertension (P=0.0017), use of beta blockers (P=0.0081) and fear of heart attack (P<0,001).

Sexual dysfunction is common in patients with chronic heart failure in our context. Indeed, it affects more than half of our study population (57.7%) and is influenced by many factors.