Lilith
10-12-2002, 08:49 PM
REUTERS [ FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2002 08:50:30 PM ]
CHICAGO: Many older women still want to have sex, but they might find their men cannot oblige.
So says a global survey of 27,780 adults aged 40 to 80 from 30 countries that found aging women become sexually dysfunctional at about half the rate of men.
"To the extent that women are (sexually active), they may be facing men who have problems," said lead researcher Edward Laumann, a University of Chicago sociologist due to present some of his findings at a Vancouver, British Columbia, conference on Thursday.
The survey found that 31 percent of middle-aged and older women lacked interest in sex, 22 percent were unable to achieve orgasm, 21 percent did not find sex pleasurable, 20 percent had trouble lubricating, and 14 percent experienced pain with sex.
Among men, about 20 percent suffered from erectile dysfunction, which increased to nearly half by age 80, according to the survey, which was funded by Pfizer, Inc., the maker of the impotence treatment Viagra.
Among the health problems common to older people associated with sexual dysfunction were diabetes and hypertension, especially in men. But psychological factors, especially depression, diminished interest in sex after 40.
In the United States, two-thirds of men aged 70 or older have a companion who is a potential sex partner, while less than one-third of women do because of women's longer life spans and divorce patterns.
CHICAGO: Many older women still want to have sex, but they might find their men cannot oblige.
So says a global survey of 27,780 adults aged 40 to 80 from 30 countries that found aging women become sexually dysfunctional at about half the rate of men.
"To the extent that women are (sexually active), they may be facing men who have problems," said lead researcher Edward Laumann, a University of Chicago sociologist due to present some of his findings at a Vancouver, British Columbia, conference on Thursday.
The survey found that 31 percent of middle-aged and older women lacked interest in sex, 22 percent were unable to achieve orgasm, 21 percent did not find sex pleasurable, 20 percent had trouble lubricating, and 14 percent experienced pain with sex.
Among men, about 20 percent suffered from erectile dysfunction, which increased to nearly half by age 80, according to the survey, which was funded by Pfizer, Inc., the maker of the impotence treatment Viagra.
Among the health problems common to older people associated with sexual dysfunction were diabetes and hypertension, especially in men. But psychological factors, especially depression, diminished interest in sex after 40.
In the United States, two-thirds of men aged 70 or older have a companion who is a potential sex partner, while less than one-third of women do because of women's longer life spans and divorce patterns.