Older People Are Having Sex, And Loving It
July 10th, 2008 | by admin |
According to a study published on bmj.com,the number of 70 year olds that are having sex - and saying it is goodsex - is increasing. Further, more older women are indicating specificsatisfaction with their sex lives.
Much of the research on sexual activity concerns younger people, andour objective knowledge about sexual behaviors among older people isquite limited. Since researchers usually focus on the sexual problemsof older people (i.e., erectile dysfunction), they have failed toconduct analyses that focus on this group’s “normal” sexual activity.
However, Swedish researcher Nils Beckman and colleagues from theUniversity of Gothenburg in Sweden have conducted a study to learnabout the attitudes to sex in later life. Participating in the projectwere four representative population samples of 70 year olds in Swedeninterviewed in 1971-2, 1976-7, 1992-3, and 2000-1. Over these threedecades, more than 1,500 septuagenarians offered to the researchersdetails of their sex lives regarding sexual dysfunctions, maritalsatisfaction and sexual activity.
Beckman and colleagues found that in thirty years, there was anacross-the-board increase in the number of 70 year olds that reportedengaging in sexual intercourse. From 1971-2 to 2001-2:
- Married men increased from 52% to 98%
- Married women increased from 38% to 56%
- Unmarried men increased from 30% to 54%
- Unmarried women increased from 0.8% to 12%
As an increasing number of these women reported having an orgasm duringsex and a decreasing number reported not having anorgasm, there was a general increase in the number of womenwho reported high sexual satisfaction. Though fewer women reported lowsatisfaction with their sex lives, the situation was different for men- there was an increase the proportion of men who reported lowsatisfaction. This could be due to the modern phenomenon of male’saccepting responsibility for sexual failure, according to the authors.
For men, thirty years saw a decrease in the proportion of men reportingerectile dysfunction decreased, but an increase in the proportionreporting ejaculation dysfunction. The percentage reporting prematureejaculation remained about the same.
A particularly interesting finding is that when sexual intercoursestops between a male and a female, both sexes readily blame men - asimilar finding to studies performed in the 1950s and 2007-06. Theresearchers conclude that, “Our study…shows that most elderly peopleconsider sexual activity and associated feelings a natural part oflater life.”
A comment accompanying the article is written by Professor PeggyKleinplatz (University of Ottawa in Canada). She maintains that, “Amajor contribution of Beckman and colleagues’ study is that it focuseson sexualattitudes and behaviour in a sample of people - not patients - who arenot seeking treatmentfor sexual dysfunction or attending a general medical clinic.”
Kleinplatz adds: “Doctors in general are known to beuncomfortable about asking patients questions about their sex lives.[Older people] may be even less likely than most to approach theirdoctors with sexual problems and concerns, although research shows thatmost people hope that their doctors will approach them…Given that sexplays an increasingly valuable role in the lives of older men andwomen, Beckman and colleagues’ study reinforces the dictum that doctorsshould ask - and be trained to ask - every patient, regardless of age,’Any sexual concerns?’ “
Secular trends in self reported sexual activity andsatisfaction in Swedish 70 year olds: cross sectional survey of fourpopulations, 1971-2001
Nils Beckman, Margda Waern, Deborah Gustafson, Ingmar Skoog
BMJ (2008). 337:a279
doi:10.1136/bmj.a279.
ClickHere to Journal Website
Written by: Peter M Crosta
Copyright: Medical News Today
Stumble it!
