title: Marital quality and older men's and women's comfort discussing sexual issues with a doctor.
abstract: It is not uncommon for older adults to feel uncomfortable engaging in sexual health communication with a doctor. Nevertheless, there is reason to expect that marital quality is associated with older adults' comfort discussing sexual issues with a doctor. This study examined the relation between marital quality and comfort discussing sexual issues with a doctor among older married men and women using a nationally representative sample of older adults. Data were analyzed using partial proportional odds models. Positive marital quality predicted higher levels of comfort discussing sexual issues with a doctor, but only for men. In contrast, negative marital quality had no significant effect on comfort discussing sex with a doctor for men or women. These results suggest that for older married men, a positive marriage is an important factor in promoting comfort in regard to sexual health communication with a doctor.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Sociology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln , Lincoln , Nebraska , USA.
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Adams
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008393:Marriage / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D060728:Reproductive Health; D012725:Sexual Behavior