Summary

The sexual behavior of older people receives little attention in medical and popular literature. A new report from Sweden shows a positive trend. Compared to 1971, people aged 70 say they enjoy more sexual satisfaction and fewer problems.

Introduction

Attitudes towards sexuality have changed drastically over the last 50 years or so, with more openness, effective birth control and more equality between the sexes. Older people have lived through these changes. But little is known of how their past experience might have affected their current sex lives.

What was done

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, carried out health surveys on groups of 70 year olds from the city in 1976, 1992 and 2001. They participated in a psychiatric examination that included questions on attitudes to sexuality, frequency of intercourse, marital status and age of first intercourse.

What was found

Over the last 30 years, alternatives to marriage have become more popular. The proportion of participants who were divorced, cohabiting, or separated, has increased. Among those with a partner, the proportion reporting a happy relationship increased. Women were less likely to be married or cohabiting, were more often widowed, and more often had an older partner.

The numbers saying they were sexually active, that sexuality was a positive factor, and who had a positive attitude to sex increased over the 30 years of the study. Fewer reported never having had intercourse and the number having it at least once a week also increased. The age at which participants had their first sexual intercourse decreased over time as did the number of women having premarital sex. When sex ceased within a relationship, it was usually due to factors relating to the male partner and this trend did not change over time.

What this study means

It appears that the liberalisation of sexuality taking place over the second half of the 20th century had produced enduring, and positive changes, in the sex lives of older people today. Sex has improved for both men and women, and gender differences in the amount of sexual experience and level of satisfaction have decreased. However, it is still a man's world in the sense that cessation of sexual activity in an older couple is generally dependent upon the male partner.