Unsafe sex among older adults

It is “impossible to ignore” the “dramatic spike” in sexually transmitted infections (STI) among adults ages 45 and older, “a demographic we tend to refer to as ‘mature,'” author and Salon staff writer, Mary Elizabeth Williams, has written.

According to Ms Williams, a recent report from the British Family Planning Association (BFPA) found that the number of over-45 United Kingdom adults with STIs doubled in the last 10 years, and the rate of chlamydia among women in that age group increased 95% over nine years.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the HIV/AIDS rate has increased 17% among senior citizens.

Julie Bentley, chief executive officer of BFPA, noted that there is a connection between birth control and safer sex, “something that’s not a concern when you hit the golden years,” Ms Williams writes.

Ms Bentley also said that older adults and seniors are “more likely to be embarrassed about STIs and therefore less likely to seek help”.

However, “it’s hard to believe the generation that invented the sexual revolution is burdened with inhibition,” Ms Williams writes.

She argues that “our attitudes toward [sex] do reflect the era from which we spring,” adding, “If you’re under 45, it’s likely that from your earliest dating life, you’ve been accustomed to hearing the words ‘safe ‘ and ‘sex’ together”.

She continues, “For Gen X-ers and subsequent generations, sex and protection have always been part of our education and experience”.

The findings of the British report “say something about how deeply rooted our sexual patterns are, how closely we associate our first furtive fumblings at erotic fulfillment with the way we comport ourselves for the rest of our lives,” Ms Williams writes.

She concludes, “And how learning the need for a condom in high school might just determine whether you recognize its value when you’re a senior citizen”. 

In the Netherlands, a warning light has started for older swingers according to Dutch research which shows that they are a hidden group at risk of STIs.

Among people attending an STI clinic, 12% were swingers or heterosexual couples who swapped partners. Of those over 45 years of age 10% had chlamydia infections and 4% had gonorrhoea.