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Aug. 22, 2007 - "On the other 'and, there's great advantages in being an old man. You ain't got the same worries. No truck with women, and that's a great thing. I ain't 'ad a woman for near on thirty year … Nor wanted to, what's more."
—George Orwell, "1984"
"Sexuality is an important part of a healthy and engaged life at older ages for both women and men."
—Linda Waite, coauthor, "A study of Sexuality and Health among Older Adults in the United States," The New England Journal of Medicine
You wouldn't think anyone needed another reason to worry about getting old, but never underestimate the power of social science to ferret out depressing statistics. Just when you thought you could age out of the sexual merry-go-round, here comes a group of researchers at the University of Chicago with the results of what is said to be "the first comprehensive national survey of sexual attitudes, behaviors and problems among older adults in the United States." And, wouldn't you know it, many of the 3,000 men and women they surveyed were still going at it well into their 80s.
This shouldn't come as a surprise, says the study's lead author, Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau, except in the context of a "puritanical" society in which "the vast majority of people don't want to think of their parents and grandparents having sex." Of course, the prevalence of sexual activity declined sharply with age: from 73 percent of the 57-to-64-year-old group, to 53 percent of those aged 65 to 74, and 26 percent of the oldest respondents. (The survey's definition of "activity" was generous, encompassing "any mutually voluntary activity with another person that involves sexual contact, whether or not intercourse or orgasm occurs," and one such episode over the previous 12 months was enough to qualify.) At any given age, men were more likely to be sexually active than women—a phenomenon partly explained by the fact that wives usually outlive their husbands. In general, Lindau found the results painted an encouraging picture of "sex and intimacy persisting into old age." Many respondents claimed they felt more sexually attractive as they aged. Familiarity with their partners bred contentment, not boredom.
Not that the sexual life of senior citizens is free of problems. Just as the ads say, difficulty in achieving or maintaining an erection is a common problem for older men, afflicting 37 percent of the sample. Performance anxiety and premature ejaculation also were a problem for more than one in four men, and one in five was unable to achieve climax. For women, sexual dysfunction most often took the form of lack of interest (43 percent), followed by lack of lubrication (39 percent), inability to climax (34 percent), lack of pleasure in sex (23 percent) and pain (17 percent). Sexually transmitted disease is not an overwhelming issue with people in their 60s and 70s, although Lindau notes that a semi-erect penis isn't a very good anchor for a condom.
The study was meant, in part, to alert physicians to the importance of discussing sexual function with older patients; one key finding was that general health was even more important than age in determining one's level of sexual activity. Notwithstanding the study's brisk clinical approach, it managed to touch on one of life's eternal mysteries, to which the answer, inevitably, is "more research." Lindau was struck by the number of women who said they were sexually active despite reporting both pain with intercourse, and a lack of pleasure in the act. "It raises the question," she muses, "what benefits are gained from sexual contact with one's partner. We need to understand that better."
Don't we all?