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Sex improves with age, especially for women

09/07/2008

A new study claims that more and more 70-year-olds are enjoying their sex lives, with women particularly satisfied.

While much is made of the sexual problems experienced in later life, little is known about 'normal' sexual behaviour among septuagenarians.

And according to research published today on BMJ.com, the number of 70-year-olds having and enjoying sex has increased in the past 30 years.

Nils Beckman and other researchers from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, studied attitudes to sex in later life among representative population samples of Swedish 70-year-olds, who they interviewed in 1971–2, 1976–7, 1992–3, and 2000–1.

Around 1,500 people were questioned in total.

In the 30-year period of the study, the number of 70-year-olds, both male and female, who said they were having regular sexual intercourse increased.

The number of married men having sex rose from 52 per cent to 98 cent, while from 38 per cent of wives having sex in the early 70s, 56 per cent reported sexual intercourse in the 21st century.

There were similar increases among the unmarried, with a 30 per cent to 54 per cent rise in men, and a 0.8 per cent to 12 per cent increase among women.

Furthermore, the number of women who reported always or usually having an orgasm during intercourse increased, while the proportion of women reporting never having had an orgasm decreased.

While number of women reporting dissatisfaction with their sex lives decreased, more men reported low satisfaction with their sex lives, possibly reflecting a greater willingness among older men to own up to sexual 'failure'.

"Our study... shows that most elderly people consider sexual activity and associated feelings a natural part of later life," they conclude, adding that the quantity and quality of sexual intercourse could be seen to have improved among 70-year-olds over 30 years.

"It is thus important that sexuality is taken into consideration when dealing with elderly people," the authors added.

"It is possible that our results reflect amore open-minded attitude in society to sexual matters rather than real changes in sexual behaviour."