Beliefs and attitudes toward sexuality in old age
Mª. Lameiras Fernández, J. Menéndez Dacosta, Y. Rodríguez Castro

SUMMARY

Objective: To determine the beliefs and attitudes held by women and men between the ages of 18 and 65 toward sexuality in old age.

Study design: Transversal descriptive observational study.

Location: University of Vigo, Ourense campus, Faculty ofEducation and general population of the Community of Galicia (Spain).

Participants: The sample consists of 312 people (189 women and 123 men). The initial selection was carried out using a random sample of 250 university students, who were then asked to administer 500 questionnaires to people between the ages of 18 and 65 years of age. 62.4% of the questionnaires given out were returned.

Instruments used: The Spanish adaptations of the following questionnaires were administered: the Facts on Aging Quiz, the Knowledge about Sexuality in Old Age Scale, and the Attitudes toward Sexuality in Old Age Scale. The sociodemographic variables measured were: age, highest level of education achieved, place of residence, marital status, number of children, religion, and whether or not participants had one or more elderly person in their family.

Results: Women between the ages of 31 and 50 show greater knowledge about the ageing process than men (t= 2.23; p< 0.05). Among men, there is a positive correlation between place of residence and knowledge about old age (r= 0.21; p< 0.05). There is also a correlation between knowledge about old age and knowledge about sexuality in old age, both among male respondents (r= 0.57; p< 0.01) and female respondents (r= 0.56; p< 0.01). The higher level of studies, the greater knowledge on the sexuality in the oldness in women (r= 0.19; p< 0.01). The older men in the study are the respondents with the most positive attitudes toward sexuality in old age (r= 0.21; p< 0.05). However, there is a negative correlation between level of education and attitudes toward sexuality in old age, both for male respondents (r= –0.29; p< 0.01) and female respondents (r= –0.14; p< 0.01).

Conclusions: Old aged women have a greater degree of knowledge about old age and sexuality in old age than men. In terms of attitudes toward sexuality in old age, older men are those who have the most positive attitudes, which appears to be unrelated to their knowledge about sexuality in old age.

KEY WORDS

Sexuality, old age, attitudes, knowledge, health.