Sexual feelings and sexual life in an Italian sample of 335 elderly 65 to 106-year-olds

Buono, Marirosa Dello; Zaghi, P.C.; Padoani, W.; Scocco, Paolo; Urciuoli, O.; Pauro, P.; Leo, Diego De

doi:10.1016/s0167-4943(98)80023-x

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…These figures are remarkably similar to a recent large U.S. study [9], but higher than in a study on older Chinese men [10]. Factors reported to have impact on sexual activity in older people include good general health and life satisfaction [9,11–15], psychosocial, cultural, and economic factors [11,16–18], male sex [7,11,13,19–22], previous sexual experience [19–21,23], having a positive attitude toward sexuality [8,24,25], and being married or cohabiting [12,19,26]. It seems especially important for women to have a socially accepted relationship [19,20,27–29].…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 75%

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Determinants of Sexual Activity in Four Birth Cohorts of Swedish 70-year-olds Examined 1971–2001

Beckman

Wærn

Östling

et al. 2014

The Journal of Sexual Medicine

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Introduction Knowledge about determinants of sexual activity in older adults in the general population is limited. Human senescence has been delayed by a decade, and people are reaching old age in better health. Aim The aim of this study was to investigate determinants of sexual activity in four birth cohorts of non-demented 70-year-olds examined in 1971–1977 and 1992–2001. Main Outcome Measure The main outcome measure was sexual activity (defined as intercourse) during the past year. Methods The study is based on cross-sectional data from four population samples of 70-year-olds from Gothenburg, Sweden (N = 1,407) systematically sampled from the Swedish population register. Results In the time periods 1971–1972 and 2000–2001, sexual activity among men increased from 47% to 66%, and in women from 12% to 34%. Sexual activity was related to positive attitude toward sexuality, sexual debut before age 20, having a very happy relationship, having a physically and mentally healthy partner, self-reported good global health, interviewer-rated good mental health, being married/cohabiting, satisfaction with sleep, and drinking alcohol more than three times a week. Having an older partner, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, higher physical health-sum score, and depression were related to less sexual activity. Interaction effects for birth cohort, with stronger positive associations in 1971–1972, were found for positive attitude toward sexuality, strong desire at age 20–30, premarital sexuality, having a younger partner, self-reported good global health, interviewer-rated good global mental health, overweight, and satisfaction with sleep. Having an older partner and depression showed stronger negative associations in the 1970s. Physical health-sum score showed a stronger negative association in 1992–2001. Conclusions We found that determinants of sexual activity in older people are numerous and varied, and change over time. It is thus important that health professionals and others take a holistic approach when dealing with sexual problems in older adults. Sexual aging should be part of health care and medical education. Clinicians should be trained to ask older patients about sexual concerns.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…It is well known that marital status is a major determinant for sexual activity in old age [7,8,11–13,16,19,20,26,28,40–43], especially in women. We found this association in both sexes, with a stronger association in women.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determinants of Sexual Activity in Four Birth Cohorts of Swedish 70-year-olds Examined 1971–2001

Beckman

Wærn

Östling

et al. 2014

The Journal of Sexual Medicine

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“…In this relatively elderly population with long-standing relationships, partners have developed a deeper understanding of each other, enabling their better adaptation to cancer. It is noteworthy that sexuality may no longer be considered of primary importance among some elderly, particularly in aged women [71]. The pressure that older PCa patients put upon themselves to perform sexually may not be as great as that of younger patients who are more sexually active.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing longitudinal quality of life in prostate cancer patients and their spouses: a multilevel modeling approach

et al. 2010

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Purpose This study aimed at examining the relationship between quality of life (QOL) in prostate cancer (PCa) patients and partners and how baseline demographics, cancer-related factors, and time-varying psychosocial and symptom covariates affect their QOL over time. Methods Guided by a modified Stress-Coping Model, this study used multilevel modeling to analyze longitudinal data from a randomized clinical trial that tested a family-based intervention to improve QOL in couples managing PCa. Patients and partners from the usual-care control group (N = 134 dyads) independently completed the measurements at baseline, and at 4-, 8-, and 12-month follow-ups. Results Correlations of QOL between patients and partners over time were small to moderate. Patients’ lower education level, partners’ older age, higher family income, and localized cancer at baseline were associated with better QOL in couples. Over time, couples’ QOL improved as their social support and cancer-related dyadic communication increased and as couples’ uncertainty, general symptoms, and patients’ prostate cancer-related sexual and hormonal symptoms decreased. Conclusions Evidence indicates that couples’ QOL during cancer survivorship is affected by multiple contextual factors (e.g., baseline demographics and time-varying psychosocial factors and symptoms). Intervention research is needed to explore comprehensive strategies to improve couples’ QOL during the continuum of PCa survivorship.

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“…There is a gender bias in research examining links between sexual activity and cognition in older age. For example, healthy older Italian men with a continued interest in sex, and those who were sexually active, had better overall cognitive functioning [ 12 , 13 ]. One explanation for the relative lack of research with women could be that females are more likely to be widowed—and hence lose their sexual partner—at an earlier age than men [ 14 ].…”

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confidence: 99%

Sex on the brain! Associations between sexual activity and cognitive function in older age

Wright

Jenks

2016

Age Ageing

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Background: the relationship between cognition and sexual activity in healthy older adults is under-researched. A limited amount of research in this area has shown that sexual activity is associated with better cognition in older men. The current study explores the possible mediating factors in this association in men and women, and attempts to provide an explanation in terms of physiological influences on cognitive function.Methods: using newly available data from Wave 6 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, the current study explored associations between sexual activity and cognition in adults aged 50–89 (n = 6,833). Two different tests of cognitive function were analysed: number sequencing, which broadly relates to executive function, and word recall, which broadly relates to memory.Results: after adjusting for age, education, wealth, physical activity, depression, cohabiting, self-rated health, loneliness and quality of life, there were significant associations between sexual activity and number sequencing and recall in men. However, in women there was a significant association between sexual activity and recall, but not number sequencing.Conclusions: possible mediators of these associations (e.g. neurotransmitters) are discussed. The cross-sectional nature of the analysis is limiting, but provides a promising avenue for future explorations and longitudinal studies. The findings have implications for the promotion of sexual counselling in healthcare settings, where maintaining a healthy sex life in older age could be instrumental in improving cognitive function and well-being.

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Sexual feelings and sexual life in an Italian sample of 335 elderly 65 to 106-year-olds

Cited by 12 publications

References 8 publications

Determinants of Sexual Activity in Four Birth Cohorts of Swedish 70-year-olds Examined 1971–2001

Determinants of Sexual Activity in Four Birth Cohorts of Swedish 70-year-olds Examined 1971–2001

Assessing longitudinal quality of life in prostate cancer patients and their spouses: a multilevel modeling approach

Sex on the brain! Associations between sexual activity and cognitive function in older age

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