Sexual satisfaction of middle-aged and older adults: longitudinal findings from a nationally representative sample

BACKGROUND: whilst previous studies have investigated the determinants of sexual satisfaction (i) using longitudinal data or (ii) among older adults, only a few studies have done both at the sametime.

OBJECTIVE: the purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of sexual satisfaction longitudinally among middle-aged and older adults.

DESIGN: nationally representative longitudinal study (German Ageing Survey-DEAS).

SETTING: community-dwelling individuals in Germany. Data drawn from three waves (2002, 2008, 2011).

SUBJECTS: individuals aged 40-95 (36.9% age group 65+). At wave 2 in the year 2002, n = 3,843 individuals took part.

METHODS: well-established and widely used scales were used to quantify the independent variables. We included variables such as sociodemographic factors, self-rated health, physical functioning, depression and loneliness in our analysis. Sexual satisfaction was our outcome measure. Results were stratified by age (40-64, 65+). To take into account the multilevel data structure, we used random coefficient models.

RESULTS: random-effects regressions showed that increased sexual satisfaction was consistently associated with the following variables in both age groups: lower number of physical illnesses, β = -0.03, P < 0.001 (betas coefficients given for individuals 65 years and over); better self-rated health, β = -0.06, P < 0.001; absence of depression, β = -0.16, P < 0.01; and higher importance of sexuality and intimacy, β = 0.08, P < 0.001. Moreover, sexual satisfaction was associated with having a partner: β = 0.16, P < 0.001; living with a partner in the same household, β = 0.26, P < 0.001; and a lower score of loneliness, β = -.28, P < 0.001. In contrast, sexual satisfaction was, for example, not associated with cognitive functioning.

CONCLUSIONS: the most surprising findings were that among both middle-aged and older adults, almost the same determinants (with exception of sociodemographic factors) were associated with satisfaction with sexlife.