Sexual well-being among partnered adults and couples over 60: a scoping review

Abstract

Introduction Although society still holds age-related stereotypes dismissing the sexuality of aging individuals, older adults remain sexually active and find sexuality to be an important part of their quality of life. Primarily oriented toward a biomedical and dysfunctional lens, prior research neglected the subjective well-being of elderly individuals, especially partnered adults and couples aged 60 years or more. Shedding a more positive light on this area of life could promote older individuals’ and couples’ sexual well-being. Objectives This scoping review aimed to synthetize the studies including community samples of partnered adults or couples over 60 who reported on various indicators of subjective sexual well-being including sexual satisfaction, distress, and function using validated measures. Methods Adhering to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMAScR), the electronic literature search was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, Medline, and CINAHL for peer-reviewed journal articles published before July 2023. Results Results showed how relational variables such as relationship satisfaction and intimacy emerge as important correlates of older adults’ sexual well-being. Conclusion Avenues for future research arising from gaps in the studies identified thorough this scoping review, including the underrepresentation of sexual/gender diverse individuals and the use of single and/or non-validated items to assess sexual well-being, are discussed.