Survey: Seniors Have Sex Into 70s, 80s

Jack and Elizabeth Menager pose at their home in Los Angeles Saturday, Aug. 18, 2007. An unprecedented study of sex and seniors finds that many older people are surprisingly frisky _ willing to do, and talk about, intimate acts that would make their grandchildren blush. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon) (Reed Saxon - Associated Press)

_One out of seven men used Viagra or other substances to improve sex.

_Only 22 percent of women and 38 percent of men had discussed sex with a doctor since age 50.

The survey had a remarkable 75 percent response rate. Only 2 percent to 7 percent did not answer questions about sexual activities or problems, although a higher percentage declined to reveal how often they masturbate.

Why do this research? Sex is an important indicator of health, said Georgeanne Patmios of the National Institute on Aging, the study's main funder.

Sexual problems can be a warning sign of diabetes, infections, cancer or other health woes. Untreated sex issues can lead to depression and social withdrawal, and people may even stop taking needed medications because of sexual side effects, the researchers wrote.

Some of them did a landmark study of sexual habits in younger people a decade ago, but little is known about X-rated behaviors beyond Generation X.

"This subject has been taboo for so long that many older people haven't even talked to their spouses about their sexual problems, let alone a physician," said the lead author, Dr. Stacy Tesser Lindau, a University of Chicago gynecologist.

Many doctors are embarrassed to bring it up, and some may not know how to treat sexual dysfunction, said Dr. Alison Moore, a geriatrics specialist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who had no role in the study.

"Even among geriatricians, there can be an age bias that this is not as big a deal as some of the other things they come into us for," like heart problems or dementia, Moore said. "It gets lost in the shuffle."

The National Opinion Research Center, a university-affiliated private research firm, did the surveys in people's homes. Laumann, its chairman, has received research support from Pfizer Inc., the maker of Viagra.

Hundreds of questions were asked face to face; others, like the number of lifetime sex partners and frequency of masturbation, were asked in a questionnaire, and 84 percent of those were completed.

Most participants were married. But by the time they were 75 to 85, only 37 percent of women had spouses compared to 71 percent of men. Roughly 10 percent of those in the survey were black and more than 6 percent were Hispanic.