Reuters UK reports on new research out of the University of Chicago, which concluded that getting old does not mean an end to sex. Survey data from elderly Americans indicates that more than 60% of the men and nearly 50% of the women have been sexually active in the past year.
Reuters reports:
More than three-quarters of American men aged 75 to 85 and half of women that age are still interested in sex, a survey of the elderly by University of Chicago researchers found.
“It’s not age per se; that when you get to 80 it’s all over with,” said sociologist Edward Laumann, who led the study of 3,000 American men and women aged 57 to 85 who lived at home, not in nursing homes.
“It’s driven by more proximate factors such as if you become obese, or you’re smoking too much, or you contract diabetes. Medications can depress sexual interest. The aging process itself is not a major factor driving these results,” he said in a telephone interview.
Comments 1
Monte Bute — August 16, 2008
Amelia, Sweet Amelia,
Thank you, thank you, thank you. All us old geezers at the nursing home for fired and retired sociologists are simply thrilled by your latest Crawler. Given the empirical data that you have made available, we've made a pact to quit smoking and go off our meds--except, of course, for weed and Viagra.
Best,
The Grateful Half-Dead