Is Sex Good for Your Health? A National Study on Partnered Sexuality and Cardiovascular Risk among Older Men and Women.
Working from a social relationship and life course perspective, we provide generalizable population-based evidence on partnered sexuality linked to cardiovascular risk in later life using national longitudinal data from the National Social Life, Health and Aging Project (NSHAP) (N = 2,204). We consider characteristics of partnered sexuality of older men and women, particularly sexual activity and sexual quality, as they affect cardiovascular risk. Cardiovascular risk is defined as hypertension, rapid heart rate, elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), and general cardiovascular events. We find that older men are more likely to report being sexually active, having sex more often, and more enjoyably than are older women. Results from cross-lagged models suggest that high frequency of sex is positively related to later risk of cardiovascular events for men but not women, whereas good sexual quality seems to protect women but not men from cardiovascular risk in later life. We find no evidence that poor cardiovascular health interferes with later sexuality for either gender.
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA liuhu@msu.edu.
Hui
H
Liu
University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
Linda J
LJ
Waite
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Shannon
S
Shen
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Donna H
DH
Wang
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012307:Risk Factors; D012725:Sexual Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D012747:Sexual Partners
D002097:C-Reactive Protein
cardiovascular risk; gender; life course; older adults; sexual frequency; sexual quality; sexuality