ArticlePloS one2019
Health status, sexual activity and satisfaction among older people in Britain: A mixed methods study.
Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Health-related quality of life in osteoporosis: a systematic review of measurement properties of the QUALEFFO-41.Osteoporosis international : a journal established as result of cooperation between the European Foundation for Osteoporosis and the National Osteoporosis Foundation of the USA · 2024Pooled it
- The barriers and enablers to accessing sexual health and sexual well-being services for midlife women (aged 40-65 years) in high-income countries: A mixed-methods systematic review.Women's health (London, England)Pooled it
- Sexual Knowledge, Attitudes, and Motivational Factors Associated with Sexual Activity in Older Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2026Article
- Whose health matters? Longitudinal analyses of older romantic couples' health, physical capabilities, and sexual experiences.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Is the process of successful sexual aging different in older partnered and non-partnered adults?PloS one · 2026Article
- Positive Sexual Aging: A Novel Concept and Bi-Country Development of a Brief Measure.Archives of sexual behavior · 2025Article
- Successful sexual aging: conceptualization and Bi-Country (Croatia and Germany) measure validation.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- A Maltese Perspective of Sex: a Maltese cross-sectional study.Sexual medicine · 2025Article
- Factors Predicting Sexual Satisfaction of Thai Women with Cervical Cancer After Complete Treatment at Least One Year and Their Spouses.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Development of a conceptual framework of sexual health for married elderly women: An exploratory mixed method study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Predictors of sexual satisfaction among Social Security and National Insurance Trust pensioners in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.PloS one · 2025Article
- Marital rights: Lived experiences of Iranian women with retired spouses in a qualitative study.BMC women's health · 2024Article
- Erectile dysfunction in men with human immunodeficiency virus: prevalence and associated factors.Translational andrology and urology · 2024Article
- Sexual Well-Being and Aging Patterns: Findings of a Cluster Analysis among Older Adults in Portugal and Spain.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2024Article
- Physical and psychosocial factors associated with sexual satisfaction in long-term cancer survivors 5 and 10 years after diagnosis.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Exploring the Relationship between Early Adaptive Schemas and Sexual Satisfaction.International journal of sexual health : official journal of the World Association for Sexual Health · 2023Article
- The Role of Non-penetrative Partnered Sex Activities in the Associations Among Erectile Difficulties, Sex and Relationship Satisfaction in Men Aged 50.International journal of sexual health : official journal of the World Association for Sexual Health · 2023Article
- A Natural History of Erectile Dysfunction in Elderly Men: A Population-Based, Twelve-Year Prospective Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
- Comorbidity, lifestyle factors, and sexual satisfaction among Chinese cancer survivors.Cancer medicine · 2021Article
- Associations among Sexual Activity, Relationship Types, and Health in Mid and Later Life.Archives of sexual behavior · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMen and women are increasingly likely to stay sexually active into later life, but research shows that sexual activity and satisfaction decrease with increasing age. Ill health and medical treatments may affect sexual activity but there is little research on why some older people with a health problem affecting their sexual activity are satisfied with their sex life, and others are not.
methodsA mixed method study integrating data and analyses from the third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (n = 3343 aged 55-74 years) and from follow-up in-depth interviews with 23 survey participants who reported having a health condition or taking medication affecting their sex life.
resultsOverall, 26.9% of men and 17.1% of women aged 55-74 reported having a health condition that affected their sex life. Among this group, women were less likely than men to be sexually active in the previous 6 months (54.3% vs 62.0%) but just as likely to be satisfied with their sex life (41.9% vs 42.1%). In follow-up interviews, participants sometimes struggled to tease out the effects of ill health from those of advancing age. Where effects of ill health were identified, they tended to operate through the inclination and capacity to be sexually active, the practical possibilities for doing so and the limits placed on forms of sexual expression. In close relationships partners worked to establish compensatory mechanisms, but in less close relationships ill health provided an excuse to stop sex or deterred attempts to resolve difficulties. Most fundamentally, ill health may influence whether individuals have a partner with whom to have sex.
conclusionThe data show complex interactions between health, lifestyle and relationship factors that affect sexual activity/satisfaction. When dealing with sexual problems in older people, practitioners need to take account of individual lifestyle, needs and preferences.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.