Sexual Knowledge, Attitudes, and Activity of People Older than 50 Years: Results from a Community-Based Study in Busan, Korea

Park, Hyun Jun; Yun, Chang Jin; Ahn, Jae Hyun; Park, Nam Cheol

Abstract

Even though interest in sexual life increases with quality of life and increases in the average life span, research is lacking on this aspect of sexual life. Therefore, we studied aspects of sexual life among aging men and women living in somewhat various social, economic, and cultural environments in Busan, a metropolitan city and the largest Korean harbor. A questionnaire study was conducted in a randomly selected sample of 248 men and 66 women aged 50 years and older (average age: men, 62.1; women, 60.6). The questionnaire consisted of 13 questions on sexual pattern, sexual activities, sexual methods, and sexual satisfaction. We found that 38.7% of men and 54.5% of women were satisfied with their sexual life, whereas dissatisfaction with sexual life was reported by 16.9% of men and 4.5% of women. A total of 66.1% of the men and all of the women reported that they had sexual intercourse less than 2 times a month. Vaginal intercourse was the most common method of sexual intercourse. In a few cases, both men and women reported petting of the whole body, sexual foreplay, and kissing. The most common sexual problems were erectile dysfunction in men and loss of libido in women. Men and women older than 50 years in the Busan area continue to show sexual activity. However, the proportion of the sample that was sexually active declined with age in both men and women.