Sex and Middle-Age: Misconceptions about Women and Sexual Dysfunction

A recent study examines the importance of sexual activity in middle age women and as they continue to advance in years.

"There's this popular public perception that as women age, sex becomes unimportant, and that women just stop having sex as they get older," said lead author Dr. Holly Thomas, via Reuters Health. "From our study, it looks like most women continue to have sex during midlife. It may be detrimental to label a woman as sexually dysfunctional."

For the study, researchers examined 354 middle-aged women and older who were sexually active at the time of the test. They then followed-up with participants four years later. Findings showed that over 85 percent of the women who reported to be sexually active and remained so over the course of the study were between the ages of 48 and 73.

"I think there is a cultural bias," Thomas said, via the Huffington Post. "Culture tells us that this (sex) is something older women shouldn't be interested in."

Based on the Female Sexual Function Index, which consisted of 19 questions involving various sexual feelings, women who remained sexually active scored an average of 22.3 based on the index, while those cutoff due to sexual dysfunction scored around 26.55. As the team found that the index failed to accurately predict if women did or did not remain sexually active, they said they believe this suggested that some may be wrongly labeled as sexually dysfunctional.

"We've seen from other research that a healthy sex life is a predictor of longevity," Thomas said. "So understanding sex might have broader implications for overall health."

What do you think?

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.