New findings reveal that sixty one per cent of older women were satisfied with their sex lives, even though most of them have low sex drive.
The team, led by Professor Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, found that the desire for sex reduces with age, particularly for women who have gone through the menopause, making them less sexually active.
The highest levels of sexual satisfaction were reported among the youngest and oldest women in the study.
Despite having a low sex drive, half of older women still claimed to achieve orgasms ‘most of the time’ during sex.
That may be because sex for the older woman can be about being in a loving relationship as much as it is about pure animal instincts, they suggest.
US scientists think this is because the women had sex as a means of affirmation or keeping their relationships healthy.
Researchers studied the sex lives of 806 ‘older women’ whose average age was 67 but included some in their 80s.
“Approximately half of the women aged 80 or older reported arousal and orgasm most of the time, but rarely reported sexual desire,” according to Prof. Barrett-Connor.
Results, published in The American Journal of Medicine, also showed it was possible to achieve sexual satisfaction just by touching or caressing a partner with whom the women had enjoyed a long-term relationship.
They said that as we get older merely feeling ’emotional and physical closeness’ to a partner can be enough to provide sexual satisfaction.
