Marital coital activity in men at the age of 75: relation to somatic, psychiatric, and social factors at the age of 70.
OBJECTIVE
To find somatic, psychiatric, and social variables that predicted cessation of coital activity in elderly married men.


METHODS
Prospective, longitudinal, observational study


METHODS
General survey of a representative sample of 70-year-old urban men (born in 1901-02) in Göteborg, Sweden.


METHODS
Forty-one men who were married and had coital activity at age 70 and who, at the age of 75, were still married when the sample was reinterviewed.


METHODS
Presence (c) or absence (nc) of coital activity at age 75.


RESULTS
Cessation of coital activity was associated with vasculogenic factors. At least one of the following disorders--systemic hypertension, ischemic heart disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes mellitus, or hypertriglyceridemia--was found in three of the C men and 14 of the NC men, P less than 0.005. Systemic hypertension was the most common disorder and was found in one C man and 10 NC men, P less than 0.01. Cessation of coital activity was associated with specified types of stress between 65 and 70 years of age in the subgroup of men who had stopped due to inability; six out of eight reported stress against five out of 20 in the C group, P less than 0.05. There was no association with any of the psychiatric or social factors studied.


CONCLUSIONS
Cessation of coital activity is predicted by somatic disorders which are associated with vascular damage and especially by hypertension. This observation does not allow the conclusion that antihypertensive treatment would be effective in postponing the cessation of coital activity.
Persson
G
G
Department of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago.
Svanborg
A
A
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001824:Body Constitution; D003075:Coitus; D006304:Health Status; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012919:Social Behavior; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological