Survey Finds Sexual Desire and Activity Important to Seniors
I came across an interesting article at About.com about one’s sexual desire as they age. Read the excerpt here, and the full article at http://seniorliving.about.com/od/healthyseniorsex/a/senior_sex_surv.htm.
Frequency of senior sexual activity declines slightly from 50s to early 70s
By Sharon O’Brien, About.com Guide
The first comprehensive national survey of senior sexual attitudes, behaviors and problems in the United States has found that most people ages 57 to 85 think of sexuality as an important part of life and that the frequency of sexual activity, for those who are active, declines only slightly from the 50s to the early 70s.
Data from the University of Chicago’s National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP), presented in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that many men and women remain sexually active—participating in vaginal intercourse, oral sex and masturbation—well into their 70s and 80s.
Sex and Aging: Sexual Activity Affected by Health More Than Age
The survey also found that senior sexual activity was closely tied to overall health, which was even more important than age. As health declined steadily after the early 70s, so did the prevalence of sexual activity, particularly for women. Among those who remained sexually active, nearly half reported at least one sexual problem, such as lack of desire (43% of women), vaginal dryness (39% of women) or erectile dysfunction (37% of men).
“We found that older adults remain interested and engage in sex, yet many experience bothersome sexual problems that can compromise both health and relationships,” said Stacy Tessler Lindau, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and of medicine-geriatrics at the University of Chicago and lead author of the study.
Sex and Aging: Too Little Known about How Sex Changes as People Age
With the first wave of baby boomers entering their 60s, older adults make up the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. Yet the “lack of reliable information about how sexual activity and function might change with age and illness, combined with taboos around discussing sex in later life, contributes to worry or even shame for many older adults,” she added.
Many medical conditions and treatments can iinterfere with senior sexuality. American men spend more than a billion dollars each year on medications to improve sexual function. Despite such frequent problems, few older men (38%) and even fewer women (22%) had discussed sex with a physician since age 50, the researchers found. Men were more likely to do so, perhaps because effective drugs are available. Nearly 1 in 7 men (14%) reported taking medication to improve sexual function.
Sex and Aging: Many Women Outlive Their Sexual Partners
The survey documented another significant gender difference in senior sexuality. While 78 percent of men ages 75 to 85 have a spouse or other intimate relationship, only 40 percent of women that age do, a consequence of the age disparity of relationships coupled with women’s greater longevity.
“Sexuality is an important part of a healthy and engaged life at older ages for both women and men,” said co-author Linda Waite, PhD, the Lucy Flower Professor in Urban Sociology at the University of Chicago and Director of the Center for Aging at NORC. For the vast majority of men, aging is a partnered experience, Waite said, “but women’s sexuality is more often affected by the death or poor health of their spouse.”
NSHAP, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was created to discover how social relationships, especially intimate relationships, influence health as people age. Between July 2005 and March 2006, the researchers interviewed 3,005 people ages 57 to 85 in their homes. They asked about social and marital history, sexual activity and function, and physical and mental health.
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