People who are sexually active before a heart attack tend to be less so after recovering, especially if they don't have the "sex talk" with their doctors, new research shows.

In a survey of heart attack patients, only about half of men and a third of women said their cardiologist discussed when it would be safe to resume sex prior to hospital discharge. Just 40% of men and 20% of women reported talking about the issue with a doctor in the year after their heart attack.

The survey also shows that sexual activity declined for both men and women during the year following a heart attack.

After adjusting for multiple factors, the researchers found that men were 30% more likely and women were 40% more likely to report a decline in sexual activity when their doctors failed to discuss sex with them after a heart attack.

The study was reported this week in Washington, D.C., at an American Heart Association meeting examining care and outcomes following heart attack and stroke.