Study reveals overlooked sexual health crisis among adults over 50 – The Standard Health

If you think sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) are only a problem for young people, you are wrong. The number of cases of gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and other STIs in older people is increasing rapidly around the world.

At the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2024), experts aim to shed light on this often overlooked sexual health issue and call for more openness in the discussion about the sexual lives and needs of people over 50.

“As people age, they do not become asexual. In fact, thanks to preventive medicine and improved lifestyles, people enjoy healthy lives and sex lives for longer,” explains Professor Justyna Kowalska, an infectious disease expert at the Medical University of Warsaw, in a press release.

Although data on the situation on the ground are not comprehensive, the press release reports higher STI rates among the elderly population in Kenya, China, Korea, Botswana and other countries around the world.

In addition, the US and the UK are highlighted as places with particularly high rates of sexually transmitted diseases among the older population. (This is perhaps a call to younger African girls, who are often seen with older white men, to be more cautious.)

“The rate of gonorrhea among 55- to 64-year-olds increased fivefold from 2015 to 2019. Similar trends have been observed in this age group for syphilis, chlamydia and other sexually transmitted diseases,” the press release states.

.

Continue reading

In the United Kingdom, the total number of new STI diagnoses among people over 45 rose by 18 percent from 2015 to 2019, to almost 38,000 cases. The number of cases of gonorrhea and syphilis doubled.

Although sexual activity declines with age, studies show that many older adults still have sex.

“These results suggest that sexual risk behavior is widespread among older adults, especially men,” notes Professor Justyna Kowalska, author of the study and an expert in infectious diseases at the Medical University of Warsaw.

The study also found that the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease increased in men who had recently become widowed, but not in women. In addition, the introduction of Viagra appeared to increase this risk for older men.

“These data probably underestimate the true scale of the problem, as limited access to sexual health services for those over 50 and attempts to avoid stigma and embarrassment on the part of both older people and healthcare professionals result in this age group not seeking help for sexually transmitted diseases,” says Prof. Kowalska.

“Health-promoting messages seem to suggest that condoms and concerns about sexually transmitted diseases only apply to young people,” adds the study author.

Professor Kowalska and other experts argue that it is time to change this. This must be achieved by incorporating sexual health into routine care for older patients, running educational campaigns tailored to older populations, using peer counsellors and community services to reduce stigma, and making condoms, testing and treatment easier for older people.

“To reduce the record numbers of sexually transmitted diseases, we need to better educate older people about the risks of sexually transmitted diseases and about safer sex,” says Prof. Kowalska. “Older people have a right to good sexual health. Let’s normalize conversations about sex and older people and change the narrative about ageing.”

“Thanks to preventive medicine and improved lifestyles, people are enjoying a healthy life and a longer sex life,” says Professor Kowalska.