Sexuality in Women above the Age of Sixty

Abstract

Aging has a powerful impact on the quality of relationship and sexual functioning. One primary cause of decreased sexual desire in postmenopausal women is decreased vaginal lubrication and/or a thinning of the vaginal lining which leads to pain during vaginal intercourse. to evaluate the impact of aging on various aspects of female sexuality. The present study included 150 married women above the age of sixty. The tool of the study was a questionnaire written in English and translated to Arabic. The questionnaire used included 29 items designed by the investigators. the most common age group was 60-64 years (60%) followed by age group 65-69 years (30.7%). Most of them were living in urban areas (53.3%). Regarding educational level, 24% of the studied group were university graduates and the rest of them either finished their secondary school (40%), or can only read and write (36%). The results of this study showed that there is a direct correlation between aging and sexual dysfunction. Coital frequency decreased with aging, 64.3% of women aged 70-74 years reported no coitus compared to 16.7% of women aged 60-64 years. Frequency of spontaneous sexual desire also decreases with aging, 40% of women aged 70-74 years, reported that sexual desire has become rare or almost never occurs compared to 14.7% of women aged 60-64 years