Queensland Mature Womens’ Sexuality Uncovered

Posted March 27th 2007

by DPS

QUEENSLAND MATURE WOMENS’ SEXUALITY UNCOVERED
The sexuality of older women in Queensland has finally been put under the microscope in the first of its kind study recently completed at the Betty Byrne Henderson Women’s Health Research Centre (BBHC) by medical sex therapist, Dr Jane Howard and her team.

The study titled “What does sexuality mean to older women?” has been five years in the making with 500 randomly selected women aged 40-80 years. The findings have been recently published in the Climacteric Journal.

Dr Howard said she hoped the study would raise awareness of the sexual issues faced by older women in today’s society and bring attention to their challenges.

Addressing areas such as libido, the effects of age on hormone levels and sexual satisfaction, this study is one of a series of research projects to be completed by the BBHC.

The group of research projects known by the acronym LAW for Longitudinal assessment of Aging in Women is the first comprehensive population study in Queensland addressing the health challenges urban women face in latter life over a 5 year period.

Funded by the RBWH Research Foundation and community support especially from the Chinese in Queensland, the LAW study is made up of 10 interlinked projects on areas such as heart, brain, balance, bone, nutrition, oral health and hormones. The high retention rate has made the results very meaningful.

The goal of the LAW study is to better understand the health related changes with ageing in women, in the hope of providing a solution for sustainable health.

Some of the key findings in Dr Howard’s research study are:
Distress about sexuality decreased with age and was related to the quality of the relationship. 56% of women aged 40-80 were sexually active. 27% of women over 70 were sexually active.
Decreased sexual desire affected about 11% of women throughout the age groups.
30% of sexually active women experienced orgasm during intercourse; age was not a negative factor. Women with no partner could orgasm more easily.