Knowledge, attitude and practice of elders about sexuality

Abstract

Background: Sexuality has been considered as one of the most natural and main aspects of life that affect an individual's identity as a human being. Not only the sexual activity provides happiness for older adults, it may also maintain a sense of self-esteem. Until recently, little attention was paid to sexuality of elderly people in many countries. Aim of the study was to identify knowledge, attitude and practice of elders about sexuality. Methods: Descriptive design: This study was administered in three elderly clubs in Mansoura city, Dakahlia Governorate. Subjects: 158 elderly people attending those clubs were included in the study. Data were collected through using four tools; Socio-demographic data and factor affecting sexual relationship, Knowledge about sexuality, Attitude and practice of elderly about sexuality. Results: The majority of the target subjects were females; more than half had moderate knowledge about sexuality and very few sexual relationships, most of the subjects reported that sexuality is unnecessary for them and that the most common risk factor influencing sexuality is the psychological condition. Conclusions: It was concluded that a negative correlation occurred between knowledge and attitude and the majority of target subjects had a neutral attitude. Therefore, it is recommended to implement a health education program about sexuality. This will help to improve knowledge, attitude and practice concerning sexuality.

Conhecimento e atitudes sobre sexualidade em pessoas idosas com HIV

“…Thus, individuals with higher levels of knowledge have more permissive attitudes towards older adults' sexuality. This finding is similar to the results of the study by Lee Kyung-Ja et al 49 , Mahieu et al 50 and Senra 51 , but different from the findings of Alam and Fadila 48 , who did not find a significant correlation between the scores of knowledge and attitudes.…”

“…Data from this study showed that people with more advanced education have a high level of knowledge about sexuality, as reported by Alam and Fadila 48 . Individuals with many years of schooling have greater access to primary care services and, consequently, more significant contact with sexuality-related information, besides better assimilating guidance by professionals 54 .…”

“…This finding is in agreement with that of Lee Kyung-Ja et al 49 , who reported that older women were more conservative about sexuality than older men. On the other hand, studies showed that there was no significant difference in attitude between men and women regarding the sexuality of older adults 36,48 .…”

Sex in Elderly Women

“…Although up to 8% of the total population will be elders by 2030, even so most people consider even the idea of sexuality of elderly people as absurd [6].…”