A Descriptive Epidemiology of Sexual Behavior and Interest in Older Adults with Diabetes

Abstract

Objective: In this manuscript we conduct descriptive analysis of epidemiological patterns in older Americans' experiences with diabetes, comorbid chronic conditions, and sexuality. We use data from the National Social, Health, and Life Project (NSHAP) to explore variations in sexual and social experience among Americans with diabetes in later life. Research Design and Methods:We use descriptive epidemiological methods to explore three research questions. First, how do sexual behavior and interest vary among older adults with and without diabetes? Second, do older adults with diabetes frequently cite health issues as a reason for abstaining from sexual activity? Third, what role might interrelated socio-demographic characteristics play in these patterns?Results: We illuminate consistent differences between people with and without diabetes with respect to sexual behavior, but not with respect to sexual interest. We find that older adults with and without diabetes think about and desire sex frequently. However, we also find that older adults with diabetes report having sex much less frequently than their peers without diabetes do. This difference is especially striking for older adults who have both diabetes and other chronic conditions. Conclusions:We assess these findings in the context of prior clinical, social, and behavioral research on sexuality, aging, and chronicity. We conclude with implications of our findings for further research concerning the intersection of diabetes and sexuality in the lives of older Americans.

Women’s sexual health in later life: Gaps and opportunities in research and practice

“…As such, here we join the growing chorus of voices calling for systematic attention to and care for women’s later life sexual health. Especially, as research increasingly recognizes that women’s later lives are anything but sexless regardless of how much or how little sexualities are practiced in a given case 7 and that women in later life are by no means a uniform group of only one type or one set of factors, 16 researchers and clinicians seeking to understand and serve such populations must utilize our existing skills to illuminate such complexity and develop protocols for speaking to the variety of women’s later life sexual health. To accomplish this, we must recognize this agency and diversity, and build from it to better understand the meanings and practices of sexualities within and between varied groups of women in a wide variety of settings.…”

“…To this end, we begin with important studies focused on sexual functioning in later life. Researchers have explored, for example, the quality of sexual experience after and in relation to menopause, 15 experience managing chronic health conditions and sexual function in later life, 16 biosocial relationships between age, womanhood, and sexual function, 17 and relationships between mental conditions and sexual function in later life 18 among women in the Unites States. In all such cases, researchers find both that aging impacts the meaning and function of sexualities, and that sexualities remain important and significant at later ages.…”

“…As noted in another recent review of sexual–romantic–health interactions in later life 16 and echoed by Granville and Pregler, 7 another important frontier for researchers and clinicians moving forward concerns demographic variability in women’s later life sexual health. For example, researchers have already noted the importance of better incorporating racial minority populations, voices, and experiences into such studies as well as the need for understanding racialized pathways in the ways racial minority women experience both health and aging in later life and across time.…”

Living with Diabetes in a Historically Black Community: Insights from Residents

“…In recent years, studies exploring the experiences of people living with diabetes [1] and the social factors that influence access to and outcomes related to chronic health conditions [2] have begun to gain prominence in medical and social scientific domains. Central to these studies is the recognition that social factors -such as race [3], class [4], gender [5], and sexuality [6] -often fundamentally cause and impact the experience of living with chronic health conditions. In fact, researchers have shown many ways social conditions influence everything from who develops a given chronic condition [7] to what resources -interpersonal and structural [8] -people may have when seeking to manage and make sense of chronic health conditions.…”