Many Older Americans Have Active Sex Lives
March 29th, 2008aren't letting age slow down their sex lives, a new study shows.
The first comprehensive national survey of the sexual attitudes,
behaviors and problems of U.S. adults age 57 and older finds many are
having sex often. In fact, the frequency of sexual activity dropped only
slightly between the late 50s up to the early 70s.
And more than half of those in the oldest age group — 75 to 85 — who
were sexually active reported having sex at least two to three times per
month, and 23 percent reported having sex at least once a week.
“This gives us, for the first time, the most comprehensive and
nationally impotence blog
data on sexuality for men and women and makes a
particular contribution with regard to knowledge of older women's
sexuality,” study lead author Dr. Stacy Tesser Lindau, assistant professor
of obstetrics and gynecology and of medicine-geriatrics at the University
of Chicago, said at a Monday teleconference.
Lindau is lead researcher on the study, which is published in the Aug.
23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
“This is of extreme importance and a landmark study that hopefully will
get the medical community and society focused on this in a less taboo way.
It's a great start,” said Dr. Barbara Paris, director of geriatrics at Mai
monides Medical Center in New York City. “For most people, it's a shock to
hear that people are having sex in their 70s,” she said.
“This is a premier study,” added Marcia G. Ory, professor of social and
behavioral health and director of the Aging and Health Promotion Program
at Texas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health. “It
debunks some myths that sex and old age don't go together, and it places
this in the context of health and health problems.”
According to the study authors, little is known about sexuality among
older people in the United States, despite this group being the fastest
growing segment of the population.
“I'm a gynecologist, and, for me, there was a tremendous void of
information to be able to provide people the information they needed to
make health care decisions and to be prepared for changes,” Lindau said.
“With the right information, people might be able to cope better.”
For this study, the University of Chicago's National Social Life,
Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) researchers interviewed 3,005 U.S. adults
(1,550 women and 1,455 men), aged 57 to 85 in their homes.
Three-quarters of those approached agreed to participate and were
remarkably forthcoming about their sex lives.
Researchers found that the prevalence of sexual activity did decline
with age, with 73 percent of respondents aged 57 to 64 reporting sexual
activity, 53 percent among those aged 65 to 74 and 26 percent among those
aged 75 to 85.
Women were less likely to be sexually active than men in age groups.
More than three-quarters (78 percent) of men aged 75 to 85 had a spouse or
other intimate relationship, only 40 percent of women in that age group
had a partner.
Women were also more likely to rate sex as “not at all important” (35
percent versus 13 percent of men).
“There do seem some gender disparities,” Lindau said. “Men overall are
more likely to have partners in later life and are more likely to be
sexually active with their partners.”
“Older ages really are different for men and women,” added Linda Waite,
senior author of the paper and the Lucy Flower Professor in Urban
Sociology at the University of Chicago. “Men tend to be married until they
die, and women tend to spend their final years as widows.” In addition,
men tend to have younger partners and women older partners, which
translates into fewer opportunities for sexual intimacy for women.
About half of both men and women who were sexually active reported
sexual problems. The most prevalent among women were low desire
(experienced by 43 percent of respondents), vaginal dryness (39 percent)
and inability to climax (34 percent). The most common problem reported by
men was erectile dysfunction (37 percent).
Fourteen percent of all men reported using medication or supplements to
help improve sexual function. “That was a high number,” Lindau said.
Health more than age tended to affect people's sex lives; men and women
who said their health was poor were less likely to be sexually active.
“The linkage with sexual health is closer to other health issues and is
not so tied directly to aging per se,” said Edward Laumann, co-author of
the study and the George Herbert Mead Distinguished Service Professor in
Sociology at the University of Chicago. “Sexual health, when it begins to
deteriorate, may be an important warning sign, because it may be an early
warning sign of more profound health problems.” Lindau was co-director of
the 1992 National Health and Social Life Survey which surveyed persons
aged 18 to 59.
Despite difficulties, only 38 percent of men and 22 percent of women
reported having discussed sexual health with a doctor since the age of 50.
Many people found ways to stay sexually active, even if their overall
health was declining. This included oral sex (the prevalence being about
50 percent among those under 75) and masturbation (more than half of men
and 25 percent of women said they masturbated, regardless of whether they
had a partner).
That being said, vaginal intercourse was often predominant.
“The vast majority said that vaginal intercourse is always part of
sexual behavior; that declines slightly as people age, with more cuddling
and kissing and snuggling as the primary activity,” Waite said.
The researchers also collected physiological specimens such as saliva
and vaginal swabs, the results of which will appear in follow-up studies.
The samples will provide information on hormone levels, prevalence of
chronic diseases such as diabetes and the frequency of human
papillomavirus (HPV), which is sexually transmitted.
While this research will pave the way for far more information in the
future, for the present, it may help open the doors of male impotence cure.
“For physicians, it really gives us a wake up call that you should be
asking about sexual function,” said Dr. Laurie Jacobs, chief of geriatric
medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City.
More information
For more on aging and sex, head to Cornell University.
