Survey: Many seniors have active sex lives

The unprecedented survey included interviews with 3,005 men and women.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

So Dr. Ruth was right after all: You are never too old to boogie.

Many seniors are still having sex, and if they aren’t, it is likely because of poor health or lack of a partner, the most comprehensive sex survey ever done among 57- to 85-year-olds reveals.

The study was done by respected scientists at the University of Chicago and published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine — not some scandal sheet.

“It’s about time,” said Ruth Westheimer, the 79-year-old radio and television expert on sex who has crusaded against age bias where intimacy is concerned.

“Older people should stop looking at their bodies and saying, ‘My body doesn’t look like it did when I was 25.’ Go out and buy some sexy lingerie, not necessarily the ones that younger people buy,” she urged.

The federally funded study did not offer advice, but was commissioned because sex is important to health and happiness.

“Most people assume that people stop doing it after some vague age,” but that appears untrue, said researcher Edward Laumann of the University of Chicago.

For example, more than half of those 57 to 75 said they gave or received oral sex, as did about a third of 75- to 85-year-olds.

The survey involved two-hour face-to-face interviews with 3,005 men and women around the country. Researchers also took blood, saliva and other samples that will tell about hormone levels, sex-related infections and other health issues in future reports. They even tested how well seniors could see, taste, hear and smell — things that affect being able to have and enjoy sex.

Findings

Some results:

USex with a partner in the previous year was reported by 73 percent of people ages 57 to 64; 53 percent of those ages 64 to 75, and 26 percent of people 75 to 85. Of those who were active, most said they did it two to three times a month or more.

UWomen at all ages were less likely to be sexually active than men. But they also lacked partners; far more were widowed.

UPeople whose health was excellent or very good were nearly twice as likely to be sexually active as those in poor or fair health.

UHalf of people having sex reported at least one related problem. Most common in men was erection trouble (37 percent); in women, low desire (43 percent), vaginal dryness (39 percent) and inability to have an orgasm (34 percent).

UOne out of seven men used Viagra or other substances to improve sex.

UOnly 22 percent of women and 38 percent of men had discussed sex with a doctor since age 50.

The survey had a remarkable 75 percent response rate. Only 2 percent to 7 percent did not answer questions about sexual activities or problems, although a higher percentage declined to reveal how often they masturbate.

Indicator of health

Sex is an important indicator of health, said Georgeanne Patmios of the National Institute on Aging, the study’s main funder. Problems can be a warning sign of diabetes, infections, cancer or other health woes. Untreated sex issues can lead to depression and social withdrawal, and people may even stop taking needed medications because of sexual side effects, the researchers wrote.

Some of them did a landmark study of sexual habits in younger people a decade ago, but little is known about X-rated behaviors beyond Generation X.

“This subject has been taboo for so long that many older people haven’t even talked to their spouses about their sexual problems, let alone a physician,” said the lead author, Dr. Stacy Tesser Lindau, a University of Chicago gynecologist.

Many doctors are embarrassed to bring it up, and some may not know how to treat sexual dysfunction, said Dr. Alison Moore, a geriatrics specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles. She had no role in the study.

Survey details

The National Opinion Research Center, a university-affiliated private research firm, did the surveys in people’s homes. Laumann, its chairman, has received research support from Pfizer Inc., the maker of Viagra.

Hundreds of questions were asked in person; others, like the number of lifetime sex partners and frequency of masturbation, were asked in a questionnaire, and 84 percent of those were completed.

Most participants were married. But by the time they were 75 to 85, only 37 percent of women had spouses compared with 71 percent of men. Roughly 10 percent of those in the survey were black and more than 6 percent were Hispanic.

Researchers also used state-of-the-art technology and products donated by several companies to test people’s senses. Taste strips were used to see if people could distinguish between various tastes (sour, salty). Special devices were used to test the ability to smell certain scents, including a suspected pheromone — a smell thought to evoke sexual responses.

Scents and tastes “get under the skin to influence biology,” and scientists wanted to know whether these senses diminish as people age, Lindau explained.

Niels Teunis, an anthropologist and researcher at the Institute of Sexuality, Social Inequality, and Health at San Francisco State University, said the survey bolsters the “use it or lose it” factor seen in previous studies.

“If you are doing it, you keep doing it. If you slack off in marriage like when you’re in your 40s, it’s hard to pick it up when you are older,” he said.

Sample couple

Jack Menager, 83, and his wife, Elizabeth, 84, agree. The suburban Los Angeles couple say they have had a good sex life for nearly 60 years.

“It gives a person relief on any burdens or problems. It makes us forget everything — escape,” he said, admitting that as physical endurance wanes “you have to work at it harder.”

The couple takes twice daily walks, drinks wine in moderation and talks a lot, said his wife.

“I think it’s important,” she said of sex. “It just makes you feel close.”

More men than women felt that way. Only 13 percent of men but 35 percent of women said sex was “not at all important.”