The study of 3,005 adults, ages 57 to 85 found the majority had an active sex life with a partner or spouse. More than half of sexually active older adults had sex two to three times a month, the same frequency reported among younger adults in a large 1992 national survey.
The drop in sexual desire among seniors was however mainly attributed to ill-health or lack of a partner, especially for women. Other reason included an acute shortage of older men that prevented many women in their 70s and 80s from indulging in sex.
The federally funded survey, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday is the most comprehensive look at sexual activity among older Americans, a relatively new area.
LA Times quotes lead author Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau, from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine as saying, "Older people are just younger people later in life."
The survey involved two-hour face-to-face interviews with 3,005 American men and women. The researchers collected information on participants' overall health and intimate relationships.
Nearly three-quarters of adults ages 57 to 64 were sexually active compared to about one-quarter of adults ages 75 to 85, the report found. About half of adults ages 65 to 74 were sexually active.
Another factor contributing to lack of sex among seniors was diabetes, particularly in women. However, the sexual behavior remained unaffected by arthritis and high blood pressure; two other conditions of old age.
At least one problem was noted by older people that kept them off sex. Half of people having sex reported at least one related problem. Most common in men was erection trouble (37 percent); in women, low desire (43 percent), vaginal dryness (39 percent) and inability to have an orgasm (34 percent).
