One in five people over 80 are sexually active but not all protect themselves against STIs. Flickr/adwriter

Why is it that when we combine the words “sex” and “older people” there’s a reaction of surprise, unease and awkwardness?

Is it because we believe older people don’t have sex? Or don’t have sexual fantasies or watch porn?

Well, think again.

Research has confirmed what older people have long known but haven’t traditionally talked about – age typically doesn’t eliminate or diminish the need and desire for sex.

All that’s required is good health, a willing sexual partner and love or romance in the relationship.

So what proportion of older people are still sexually active?

One Swedish study that interviewed groups of 70-year-olds over a 30-year period (in the early 1970s, mid 1970s, early 1990s and early 2000s) found rates of sexual activity had risen among men and women, and married and unmarried respondents.

More than two-thirds (68%) of married men in the 2000-01 survey said they had sex, an increase of 16% from the previous decade. The percentage of married 70-year-old women having sex rose from 38% to 56%.

Another recent study showed that while sexual activity in the United States declined with advancing age, almost three quarters (73%) of respondents aged 57 to 64 were sexually active.

In the 65-to-74 age group, more than half (53%) reported being sexually active. And in the 75-to-85 age group, more than a quarter (26%) were still having sex.

These results are similar to an Australian study from the mid-1990s, which found that by the age of 80, 8% of women and 29% of men were still having sex.

Most recently, a 2010 study from the Kinsey Institute in the United States found more than 20% of people aged 80 to 94 were still sexually active.

Viagra

There are other ways we can measure the sexual activity and interest of older people without asking them questions about how often they have sex.

Read this entire article here.