Sex and drugs (with or without rock and roll)

Annals of Internal Medicine published an interesting article today on sexual activity in 75 to 95 year-old men. Using data from a large cohort study in Australia, the authors identified several interesting findings:

While sexual activity decreases with advancing age, it is still common: approximately 40% of men age 75-79, 30% of men age 80-84, and 20% of men age 85-90 are sexually active
Roughly half of participants reported that sex was at least somewhat important. Many stated that sex was moderately or very important
Among men who were not sexually active, only 40% stated it was because of lack of interest. Reasons commonly cited for not being sexually active included lack of a partner, physical limitations of oneself or of the partner, and lack of interest by the partner.
Several reversable risk factors were associated with lack of sexual activity, including use of beta blockers and antidepressants (thus the title of this post).

These findings should not be surprising - news flash, men like to have sex - but serve as a useful reminder to consider probing about this important quality of life issue. I recently revised my clinic note template to remind myself to intermittently ask patients for updates on key geriatric issues, for example falls, functional status, continence, etc - but to my chagrin I now realize that sexual function didn't make the list. It may be time to change that template...
by: Mike Steinman

Comments

Helen Chen said…

Thanks, Mike. This is a good reminder. And while you are asking about sexual activity, please consider asking and counseling about HIV risks. Between 10-15% of new HIV infections occur in people over the age of 50, many of whom may not view themselves as being in a risk group. Since unintended pregnancy is generally not an issue, barrier methods may be perceived as unnecessary.

December 7, 2010 at 3:25 PM

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