The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of sexual attitude among the elderly to their sexual life while exploring the moderating effect of general characteristics in the relationship between sexual attitude and sexual life.
Methods
A descriptive research design was used. The subjects were 322 married elderly from four silver centers in Seoul and Gangwon-do. Aging Sexuality Attitude Scale developed by White (1982) was used to examine sexual life status and general characteristics of the subjects (gender, age, academic background, religion, economic status, and residential type). For data analysis, χ2-test, t-test, and ANOVA were conducted. Since the dependent variable of sexual life is a binary variable, hierarchical logistic regression was implemented.
Results
There were 180 people (55.9%) who had a sexual life. Depending on gender (χ2=35.03, p<.001), academic background (χ2=29.45, p<.001), and economic status (χ2=7.36, p=.025), the subjects showed significant difference in terms of sexual life. Regarding sexual attitude, the subjects showed significant difference depending on gender (t=-5.47, p<.001), age (t=-2.31, p=.021), academic background (t=5.16, p<.001), economic status (F=3.17, p=.043), and sexual life status (t=4.99, p<.001).
Conclusion
It is important to devise the sex education program in consideration of gender, age, and academic background that showed moderating effects.
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea(NRF) grant funded by the Korea government(Mest)(2011-0009799).
REFERENCES
1. Arias-Castillo L, Ceballos-Osorio J, Ochoa JJ, Reyes-Ortiz CA. Correlates of sexuality in men and women aged 52-90 years attending a university medical health service in Colombia. J Sex Med. 2009;6(11):3008-3008.
2. Beckman N, Waern M, Ostling S, Sundh V, Skoog I. Determinants of sexual activity in four birth cohorts of Swedish 70-year-olds examined 1971-2001. J Sex Med. 2014;11(2):401-410.
12. Lee HS. A study on married elderly women's sex life. J Welf Aged. 2010;48:151-176.
13. Lee HS, Kim SY. Qualitative study on men's sex life in old age. J Welf Aged. 2009;45:207-234.
14. Lee SJ, Lee YS, Kim YE. The degree of elderly sexual desire and their attitudes towards sex. Korean J Clin Soc Work. 2013;10(1):1-21.
15. Lindau ST, Gavrilova N. Sex, health, and years of sexually active life gained due to good health: Evidence from two US population based cross sectional surveys of ageing. BMJ. 2010;340:c810.
16. Lindau ST, Schumm LP, Laumann EO, Levinson W, O'Muircheartaigh CA, Waite LJ. A study of sexuality and health among older adults in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2007;357(8):762-774.
20. Park MH, Park MH. Effects of sex education on elders' knowledge and attitude regarding sexuality. J Korean Gerontol Nurs. 2010;12(1):62-71.
21. Park TR. Research of the attitudes toward the sexuality of the older persons. J Soc Welf Dev. 2006;12(3):235-249.
22. Penhollow T, Young M, Denny G. Predictors of quality of life, sexual intercourse, and sexual satisfaction among active older adults. Am J Health Educ. 2009;40:14-22.
23. Ra DS, Kim YD. The impact of elderly's sexual life and sexual attitude on their life satisfaction. J Welf Aged. 2011;52:185-204.
24. Rheaume C, Mitty E. Sexuality and intimacy in older adults. Geriatr Nurs. 2008;29(5):342-349.
25. Suh JA. Sexual culture in sexuality counselling cases for the Korean older people. Korean J Res Gerontol. 2012;21:59-75.
26. Syme ML, Klonoff EA, Macera CA, Brodine ST. Predicting sexual decline and dissatisfaction among older adults: The role of partnered and individual physical and mental health factors. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2012;68(3):323-332.
27. Waite LJ, Laumann EO, Das A, Schumm LP. Sexuality: Measures of partnerships, practices, attitudes, and problems in the national social life, health, and aging study. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2009;64(S1):i56-i66.
Moderating Effect of General Characteristics on the Relationship between Sexual Attitude and Sexual Life (N=322)
ASA=Aging Sexual Attitude; −2LL=−2 log likelihood.
Table 5
Verification of Simple Slope between Sexual Attitude and Sexual Life according to Gender, Age, and Education (N=322)
Figure & Data
References
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Necessity and methods of sexual education in the elderly population Hana Yoon Journal of the Korean Medical Association.2019; 62(6): 320. CrossRef
Effects of Expressive Sexual Coping Behavior on the Prostitution Attitude of Spouseless Men Byeong-Joo Jeon, Keon-Hoo Kim Journal of Digital Convergence.2015; 13(2): 13. CrossRef