Sexuality and older people

Much of the literature on sexuality in elderly people focuses on sexual problems, leaving clinicians with the impression that older adults have either dismal or non-existent sex lives. Few data are available on “normal” sexuality in elderly people, let alone the entire spectrum of sexual expression including optimal sexuality.1 Beckman and colleagues’ linked study makes a welcome contribution to the limited literature on sexuality in older people.2

A major contribution of Beckman and colleagues’ study is that it focuses on sexual attitudes and behaviour in a sample of people—not patients—who are not seeking treatment for sexual dysfunction or attending a general medical clinic. The methodology is strong, using consistent interviewing techniques over a 30 year period to produce four comparable sets of cross sectional data from 1971 to 2001.

Current knowledge suggests that sexual functioning and frequency decline with age and that sex decreases in …