Americans sexually active into their 70s

Most Americans remain sexually active into their 60s but men outnumbered women in their continuing desires, according to interviews conducted with 3,000 Americans aged between 57 and 85.

The study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that 84% of men aged 57 to 64 reported having had sexual contact with another person in the past year compared with 62% of women in the same age group.

But it also found that women were less likely to report being sexually active from 57 on because they were more often without a partner and also said they no longer derived much personal pleasure from sexual contact.

Overall, most Americans surveyed remained sexually active into their 60s and nearly half of them continued to have sex regularly into their early 70s. But many of the older people interviewed said they struggled with sexual problems such as reduced desire and erectile difficulties.

Of those who did continue to be active and happy, about two thirds said they had sex at least twice a month into their 70s.