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 Older adults said "they miss and want to engage in sexual behaviors,
whether that be a kiss to intercourse," said study coauthor
Taylor-Jane Flynn in an email. "For many, these behaviors remained
an important element in their life."
Flynn, a psychology PhD candidate at Glasgow Caledonian University,
said the study was inspired by her work as a health care assistant
for elderly people.
Although quality of life is a key consideration for older adults,
sexuality is rarely studied, write Flynn and Alan Gow, an associate
professor of psychology at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, in
the journal Age and Ageing.
The researchers recruited 133 Scottish adults aged 65 and over by
distributing questionnaires at local clubs, small businesses and
older people’s groups.
About half the participants lived with a spouse or partner.
The questionnaire asked how often in the last six months
participants had engaged in six sexual behaviors: touching/holding
hands, embracing/hugging, kissing, mutual stroking, masturbation and
intercourse.
Participants also rated how important those behaviors are to them,
on a five-point scale ranging from “not at all important” to “very
important.”
Additionally, the questionnaires assessed participants’ quality of
life based on physical health, psychological health, social
relationships and environment.
Between 75 and 89 percent said they'd engaged in kissing, hugging
and holding hands or touching. Men and women scored about the same
for frequency and importance of sexual behaviors overall, and for
quality of life.
Although people with frequent sexual activity also placed higher
importance on it, the analysis found the two measures were
associated with different aspects of quality of life.
Participants reporting more frequent sexual behavior rated their
social relationships as higher quality, while people who found
sexual activity to be important had higher scores for psychological
quality of life.
Overall, however, seniors’ health status had the strongest impact on
all aspects of quality of life.
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John DeLamater, a sociology professor at the University of Wisconsin
– Madison, said the fact that participants were recruited in
community settings - which may attract more healthy and active older
people - might affect the results.
“If they are generally healthier (which the results show to be
associated with quality of life), they are probably more sexually
active,” DeLamater said in an email.
For people who have valued sexuality throughout their lives, he
noted, “continuing activity provides protection against a sense of
aging and loss, and of continuity if the person is in a long-term
relationship.” That may explain the links between sex and well-being
found in the study, he said.
While the current study only looked at associations and cannot
determine whether sexuality raises quality of life, Gow noted, he
hopes that future research will focus more on this subject.
“What we hope is that our current findings encourage other
researchers interested in the determinants of health and well-being
in older adults to also consider sexual behaviors,” Gow said in an
email.
The sexuality of older people should be considered and encouraged,
DeLamater said. “We should encourage couples to spend time alone,
provide arrangements in care facilities that enable sexual intimacy,
provide sexual health information in medical settings.”
SOURCE: bit.ly/1CXCiLh Age and Ageing, online July 14, 2015.
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