U.S. researchers report sexual activity as it is related to age and health in over 3,000 U.S. adults that are 57 to 85 years of age. Although the report showed that interest and frequency of sexual activities decline in older Americans, it was shown that 73% of those surveyed between 57 to 64 years of age were having sex; 53% were having sex between 64 and 75 years, and 26% were having sex between 75 and 85 years.
The report also showed that for those seniors who were not having sex, the reasons were primarily due to health problems or a lack of a partner, especially for women.
According to one of the researchers, Edward O. Laumann, of the University of Chicago, "Most people assume that people stop doing it after some vague age.” However, the researchers performing this study found this assumption not to be true.
The survey consisted to an interview with 3,005 men and women from throughout the United States in the 57 to 85 year age bracket. The survey was performed in the subject’s homes by representatives from the National Opinion Research Center (NORC), a private research company. Questions were asked directly of the interviewees over a two-hour period of time, while other questions were asked to be answered later within a questionnaire, and then mailed back to the research company.
The NORC representatives also took samples of blood, saliva, and other bodily materials from each interviewee so that the samples could be analyzed with respect to sexual- and health-related characteristics, They also gave the subjects various sensory tests for hearing, sight, smell, and taste in order to help relate such senses to the ability to have and enjoy sex.
Some of the statistics of the study include:
1. Fifty-eight percent of the sexually active seniors were having oral sex between the ages of 57 and 64 years, and 31% between the ages of 75 and 85 years.
2. Women were less likely to have sex than men primarily due to a lack of a partner.
3. Fifty-two percent of men and 25% of women reported masturbating while in a sexual relationship, while 55% of men and 23% of women reported masturbating while not in a sexual relationship.
4. Seniors not in a regular sexual relationship were much less likely to not be sexually active; specifically, only 22% of men and only 4% of women were sexually active and not in a stable sexual relationship.
5. Seniors whose health was classified as ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’ were nearly twice as likely to be having sex than those whose health was classified as ‘poor’ or ‘fair’—specifically 79% more likely for men and 64% more likely for women.
6. Those men reporting health problems told of (in the order of frequency) difficulties with: erections, (lack of) desire, climaxing too quickly, excess anxiety, and inability to climax.
7. Women reporting health problems included such difficulties with: (lack of) interest, vaginal dryness, inability to orgasm, not finding sex enjoyable, and painful intercourse.
One conclusion reported in the study is: “Many older adults are sexually active. Women are less likely than men to have a spousal or other intimate relationship and to be sexually active. Sexual problems are frequent among older adults, but these problems are infrequently discussed with physicians.”
Another conclusion of the study is that ones ability and willingness to have sex is tied more to relationships and mental health than it is to physical health with respect to sexual problems and concerns.
The researcher’s result is published in The New England Journal of Medicine article “A Study of Sexuality and Health among Older Adults in the United States”, which was in the Thursday, August 23, 2007 issue. Its authors are Stacy Tessler Lindau, Philip Schumm, Edward O. Laumann, Wendy Levinson, Colm A. O'Muircheartaigh, and Linda J. Waite.
John H. J. Bancroft, senior research fellow at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender, and Reproduction, Indiana University, Bloomington, wrote an editorial within The New England Journal of Medicine article.
Bancroft says, "What is desirable, and what I encourage any couple to do, is to look for ways to enjoy physical intimacy without having the same expectations they had when they were younger. Much of the bonding effect of physical intimacy does not depend on sex. Indeed, intimacy can be enhanced for couples that can embrace changes rather than be threatened by them."
