Correlates of sexuality in men and women aged 52-90 years attending a university medical health service in Colombia.
BACKGROUND
Limited information is available regarding sexuality among Colombian adults aged 50 years and older.


OBJECTIVE
To assess demographic or health characteristics associated with sexuality measures among middle- and older-aged men and women.


METHODS
Cross-sectional face-to-face interviews were conducted with retired persons from a university ambulatory medical care setting. Data on sexuality were obtained along with data on their demographic, emotional intimacy, practice of religion, medical conditions, and functional health measures. There were 136 participants.


METHODS
Appropriateness of sex, sexual desire, importance of sex, masturbation, and sexual intercourse.


RESULTS
Fifty-seven percent of the participants were over 65 years of age, 52% were female, and 66% reported being married; 67% indicated sex is appropriate, 58% reported having sexual desire, 45% considered sex very important in their lives, 54% reported one or more instances of sexual intercourse, and 16% reported masturbating within the last year. In multivariate analyses, importance of sex and sexual intercourse decreased by age. Women had decreased odds ratios (0.20 to 0.33) for sexuality measures compared with men with the exception of appropriateness of sex. Married persons had increased odds ratios (3.06 to 9.45) for importance of sex, appropriateness of sex, and sexual intercourse compared with those of the same age who reported being unmarried. Other factors associated with some particular sexuality measures were emotional intimacy, religious practice, medical conditions, and functional health measures. There were significant mediation effects for appropriateness of sex on the relationship between sexual desire and sexual intercourse, and for importance of sex on the relationship between appropriateness of sex and sexual intercourse.


CONCLUSIONS
Men and married persons had higher rates of most sexuality measures compared with women or their unmarried counterparts. These differences were greater at older ages (> or =65) for all sexuality measures except sexual intercourse.
Arias-Castillo
Liliana
L
Dean Office, Health Sciences, University of Valle, Cali, Colombia.
Ceballos-Osorio
Janeth
J
Ochoa
Jhon Jair
JJ
Reyes-Ortiz
Carlos A
CA
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003075:Coitus / Q000523:psychology; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008393:Marriage; D008418:Masturbation / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012067:Religion; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013333:Student Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data