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Older people continue to enjoy active sex lives well into their seventies and eighties, according to new research from the University of Manchester and NatCen Social Research.
More than half (54%) of men and almost a third (31%) of women over 70 said that are still sexually activewhile a third of these men and women have frequent sex—i.e at least twice a month– according to data from the latest wave of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA).
The research, led by Dr. David Lee, Age UK researcher at the School of Social Sciences at the University of Manchester, and titled Sexual health and wellbeing among older men and women in England, was published in the US academic journal Archives of Sexual Behavior.
It is the first sexual health study of its kind to include people aged over 80 and reveals a detailed picture of the sex lives of older men and women in England, finding that a significant minority remain sexually active in old age.
Contrary to popular misconceptions, general health and conflicting relationship factors are found to be more closely related to declines in sexual activity and function than simply to advancing age.
Of the more than 7000 people who answered the questionnaire, very few (less than 3%) refused to answer direct questions about their sexual activities and problems.
“This is the first nationally representative study to include people aged over 80, when older men and women in England are asked about their sexual health.”
We hope our findings improve public health by dispelling stereotypes and misconceptions about sexuality in late life, and offer older adults a reference point to which they can relate their own experiences and expectations.”
Our ongoing research also highlights the diversity of late-life sexualities, and trying to impose youthful standards of sexual health on older people would be oversimplifying and even unhelpful.”
It is however important that health professionals act on this and are more open to discussing sexual health with older people – it cannot simply be seen as irrelevant.”
The problems most frequently reported by sexually active women were sexual arousal (32%) and achieving orgasm (27%), while for men it was erectile difficulties (39%).
Chronic conditions and poor self-rated health appeared to have more pronounced negative effects on sexual health in men compared to women. men worried more about their sexual activities and sexual function than women and, with increasing age, these worries tended to become more frequent.
Sexually active women were less dissatisfied with their overall sex lives than men and also reported decreasing levels of dissatisfaction with increasing age.
The study also found that many people in their seventies and eighties were still affectionate with their partners, with 31% of men and 20% of women reporting frequent kissing or caressing.
Among those who reported any sexual activity in the past three months, 1% of men and 10% of women reported feeling compelled to have sex.
Caroline Abrahams, Director of Charities at Age UK, said: “Women and children who have had sex are very vulnerable: “The fact that this is the first time people over 80 have been included in this kind of research, highlights how often the public health needs of older people, including sexual health, are ignored or overlooked.”
With an aging population it is important that sexual health service providers understand the needs of older people both clinically and when developing information and advice. These recent findings should now be used to improve advice and information about the sexual health of older people.”
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