Intended for healthcare professionals

News

Study comes up with 41 definitions of what “having sex” means

BMJ 2010; 341 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c5491 (Published 05 October 2010) Cite this as: BMJ 2010;341:c5491
  1. Janice Hopkins Tanne
  1. 1New York

A major survey of sexual behaviour among Americans has shown that while most men said they had an orgasm during their last sexual encounter and 85% believed that their partner had also had an orgasm, only 64% of women said they had experienced an orgasm.

The study of nearly 6000 men and women aged between 14 and 94 also found that penetrative sex was most common among men aged 25 to 39 years and women aged 20 to 29 and declined progressively among older age groups. However, between 20% and 30% of men and women remained sexually active well into their 80s.

Masturbation was common throughout life, and during adolescence and over the age of 70 it was more common than sexual activity with a partner. …

View Full Text

Log in

Log in through your institution

Subscribe

* For online subscription