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October 1, 2008 7:59 AM
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO - More 70-year-olds are having good sex more often, Swedish researchers say in a finding bound to bring a smile to many an aging baby boomer.
They found 70-year-olds of both sexes are having more sex than they did 30 years ago, and many more women report being satisfied with their sex lives.
"Attitudes are more open-minded and positive today, at least in the elderly themselves," said Nils Beckman of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, whose study appears in the British Medical Journal.
Beckman and colleagues interviewed four groups of
70-year-olds in Sweden about their sex lives between 1971 and
2001. They found that 68 per cent of married men said they were
having sex in 2001, up from 52 per cent in the early '70s.
The number of married women having sex rose to 54 per cent
in the group interviewed in 2000-2001, up from 30 per cent in
the early 70s.
And 12 percent of unmarried women interviewed in 2000-2001
said they were having sex, up from less than 1 per cent in the
early '70s. The number of women reporting high sexual
satisfaction also increased, with more women reporting an
orgasm during sex and fewer reporting never having had one.
Interestingly, the number of men reporting low sexual
satisfaction rose. Beckman said in an email this might be
because men are now more open in talking about sexual failure.
Overall, he said the changes reflect shifting attitudes
about sex in Western societies over the past half century.
"Hopefully it will inspire elderly people to seek help if
having sexual problems, and make doctors and other health
professionals aware that even elderly people can be or would
like to be sexually active," Beckman said.
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