Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-wxvwp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-15T04:07:14.669Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Sexuality and Ageing

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2008

Ole J. Thienhaus,
Elizabeth A. Conter and
H. Bruce Bosmann
Ole J. Thienhaus
Affiliation:
University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Department of Geriatrics, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267–0555 USA.
Elizabeth A. Conter
Affiliation:
University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Department of Geriatrics, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267–0555 USA.
H. Bruce Bosmann
Affiliation:
University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine, Department of Geriatrics, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267–0555 USA.Martha Betty Semmons Professor of Geriatrics.
Get accessRights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ageing itself abolishes neither the need nor the capacity for sexual activity. A number of studies confirm the continuance of sexual activity in old age. Normal physiological changes with age affect erectile function and ejaculation in males, and the vaginal tissue in females. Psychological and social factors that affect sexual function in old age include the individual's degree of sexual activity throughout earlier life, the psychological resiliency in adapting to the altered physiological conditions, demographic factors, and society's attitudes towards sex in old age. Furthermore, pathologies that are more prevalent among the elderly can interfere with sexual function.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , March 1986, pp. 39 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

NOTES

1 Freud, S., ‘Three essays on the theory of sexuality (1905)’. In The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, vol. VII. Hogarth Press, London, 1953.Google Scholar

2 Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B. and Martin, C. E., Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. Saunders, Philadephia, 1948.Google Scholar

3 Kinsey, A. C., Pomeroy, W. B., Martin, C. E. and Geghard, P. H., Sexual Behavior in the Human Female. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1953.Google Scholar

4 Comfort, A., ‘Sexuality in later life’. In Birren, J. E. and Sloane, R. B. (eds), Handbook of Mental Health and Aging. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1980.Google Scholar

5 Pearl, R., The Biology of Population Growth. Knopf, New York, 1930.Google Scholar

6 Newman, G. and Nichols, C. R., Sexual activities and attitudes of older persons. J. Am. Med. Ass., 173 (1960), 33–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7 Christenson, C. V. and Gagnon, J. H., Sexual behavior in a group of older women. J. Gerontol., 20 (1965), 351–356.Google Scholar

8 Christenson, C. V. and Johnson, A. B., Sexual patterns in a group of never-married women. J. Geriat. Psychiatry, 7 (1973), 88–98.Google Scholar

9 Finkle, A., Moyers, T., Tobenkin, M. and Karg, S., Sexual potency in ageing males: frequency of coitus among clinic patients. J. Am. Med. Ass., 170 (1959), 1391–1393.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

10 Freeman, J., Sexual capacities in the ageing male. Geriatrics, 16 (1961), 37–43.Google Scholar

11 Rubin, I., Sexual Life after Sixty. Basic Books, New York, 1965.Google Scholar

12 Pfeiffer, E., Verwoerdt, A. and Wang, H. S., Sexual behavior in aged men and women. I. Observation of 254 community volunteers. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry, 19 (1968), 753–758.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

13 Pfeiffer, E., Verwoerdt, A. and Davis, G. C., Sexual behavior in middle life. Am.J. Psychiatry, 128 (1972), 1262–1267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

14 Brecher, E. M., Love, Sex and Aging. Little, Brown, Boston, 1984.Google Scholar

15 Hunt, M., Sexual Behavior in the Seventies. Playboy Press, Chicago, 1974.Google Scholar

16 Masters, W. and Johnson, V., Human Sexual Response. Little, Brown, Boston, 1966.Google Scholar

17 Kaplan, H. S. and Sager, C. J., Sexual patterns at different ages. Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, 5 (1971), 10–23.Google Scholar

18 Bartuska, D. G., Physiology of aging: metabolic changes during the climacteric and menopausal periods. Clin. Obstet. Gynec. 20 (1977), 105–112.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

19 Raboch, J., Mellan, J. and Starka, L., Plasma testosterone in male patients with sexual dysfunctions. Arch. Sexual Behav. 4 (1971), 541–545.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

20 Pfeiffer, E., ‘Sexual behavior in old age’. In Busse, E. W. and Pfeiffer, E. (eds), Behavior and Adaptation in Late Life. Little, Brown, Boston, 1969.Google Scholar

21 Kaplan, H. I., Freedman, A. M. and Sadock, B. J., Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry III. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1980.Google Scholar

22 Pollock, G. H., Old age: The last developmental challenge. Aspects of Aging I, Report No. 2, Philadelphia, 1984.Google Scholar

23 U.S. Bureau of the Census, Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1977 (98th ed). Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1977.Google Scholar

24 Woods, N. F., ‘Human sexuality and the healthy elderly’. In Brown, M. (ed), Readings in Gerontology. C V. Mosby, St Louis, 1978.Google Scholar

25 Thiennaus, O. J. and Hartford, J. T., Alcoholism in the elderly. Psychiatric Medicine, 2 (1984), 27–41.Google Scholar

26 Zilbergeld, B., Male Sexuality: A Guide to Sexual Fulfillment. Little, Brown, Boston, 1978.Google Scholar

27 Kalliomäki, J. L., Sexual behavior after cerebral vascular accident. Fertil. Steril., 12 (1961), 156–158.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

28 Kavanaugh, T. and Sheppard, R. J., Sexual activity after myocardial infarction. Canad. Med. Ass. J., 116 (1977), 1250–1253.Google Scholar

29 Glover, G. H., Sex counselling of the elderly. Hospital Practice 12 (1977), 101–113.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

30 Scheingold, L. D. and Wagner, N. N., Sound Sex and the Aging Heart. Human Sciences Press, New York, 1974.Google Scholar

31 Kent, S., Impotence as a consequence of organic disease. Geriatrics 30 (1975), 155–157.Google ScholarPubMed

32 Corby, N. and Solnick, R. L., ‘Psychosocial and physiological influences on sexuality in the older adult’. In Birren, J. E. and Sloane, R. B. (eds), Mental Health and Aging. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1980.Google Scholar

33 Finkle, A. L. and Prian, D. V., Sexual potency in elderly men before and after prostatectomy. J. Am. Med. Ass., 196 (1966), 139.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

34 Gold, B. M. and Hotchkiss, R. S., Sexual potency following simple prostatectomy. NY State J. Med., 69 (1969) 2987.Google ScholarPubMed

35 Holgrewe, H. L. and Valk, W. L., Late results of transurethral prostatectomy. J. Urol., 92 (1964), 51–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

36 Zohar, J., Meiraz, D., Maoz, B. and Durst, N., Factors influencing sexual activity after prostatectomy: a prospective study. J. Urol. 116 (1976), 332–334.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

37 Small, M. P. and Carrion, H. M., A new penile prosthesis for treating impotency. Contemp. Surg. 7 (1975), 29–33.Google Scholar

38 Loeffler, R., Penile prostheses do not inhibit partial erectile ability. Family Practice News, 6 (1977), 125–132.Google Scholar

39 Furlow, W. L., Surgical management of impotence using the inflatable penile prosthesis. Mayo Clinic Proc., 51 (1977), 325–332.Google Scholar

40 Vestal, R. E., McGuire, E. A., Tobin, J. D., Adres, R., Norris, A. H. and Mazey, E., Aging and ethanol metabolism. Clin. Pharmacol. Ther., 31 (1977), 348–354.Google Scholar

41 Shakespeare, W., Macbeth, II, iii, 34. Signet Classics, New York, 1963.Google Scholar

42 Rubin, E., Lieber, C. S. and Altman, K., Prolonged ethanol consumption increases testosterone metabolism in the liver. Science, 191 (1976), 563–564.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

43 Van Thiel, D. H., Gaveler, J. and Lester, R., Ethanol inhibition of vitamin A metabolism in the testes: possible mechanism for sterility in alcoholics. Science, 186 (1974). 941–942.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

44 Lemere, F. and Smith, J. D., Alcohol-induced sexual impotence. Am. J. Psychiatry, 130 (1973). 212–213.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

45 Lemere, F., Sexual impairment in recovered alcoholics. Medical Aspects of Human Sexuality, 10 (1976), 69–70.Google Scholar

46 Cogen, R. E., Steinmann, W. C. and Johnson, J. C., Sexual activity in elderly men of lower socio-economic status. J. Am. Geriat. Soc., 32 (suppl.) (1984), 525.Google Scholar

47 Schonfield, D., Who is stereotyping whom and why? The Gerontologist, 22 (1982), 267–272.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

48 Griggs, W., Sex and the elderly. Am. J. Nursing 78 (1978), 1352–1354.Google ScholarPubMed

49 McCarthy, P., Geriatric sexuality: capacity, interest, and opportunity. J. Gerontol. Nursing, 5 (1979), 20–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

50 Verwoerdt, A., Clincial Geropsychiatry, 2nd edition. Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1981.Google Scholar

51 Damrosch, S. P., Graduate nursing students' attitudes toward sexually active older persons. The Gerontologist, 24 (1984), 259–302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed

52 Pfeiffer, E., ‘Sexuality in the aging individual’. In Gordon, C. and Johnson, G. (eds), Readings in Human Sexuality: Contemporary Perspectives, 2nd edition. Harper & Row, New York, 1980.Google Scholar