By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
About one third of people aged 65 or older continue to be sexually active, but they are not well-educated on the matter. Seoul City and the University of Seoul interviewed 1,022 elderly citizens ㅡ 441 men and 581 women ㅡ 65 years old or older and 28 percent of them have sex at least once per month.
Most of their partners were their spouses, accounting for 76 percent.
Another 16 percent said they have sex with friends of the opposite sex who they mostly meet at senior citizen centers.
Some 82 percent do not use sexual stimulant drugs, but 12 percent said that they do.
Two percent said that they use lubricants.
The survey said 16 percent of the elderly had been with a prostitute. However, the majority, or 67 percent, said they had not. The rest chose not to answer the question.
Prostitution is emerging as a key reason seniors catch venereal diseases.
One out of 10 seniors has contracted sexually transmitted diseases with the cause of infection for 65 percent of them being sleeping with a prostitute.
Researchers from Goteborg University of Sweden interviewed people in their 70s in 1971 and 2001. The 2001 survey showed 68 percent of older married men said they have sexual intercourse, while in 1971 only 52 percent did.
Experts say the sexual desire of seniors should be seen as positive.
Bae Jeong-weon, director of the Yonsei Sexual Health Center, said more than 80 percent of the elderly visiting the center have sexual desires. "Sexual energy does not decline, but seniors have fewer opportunities to have sex," Bae said.
As the average life span increases and more seniors live healthily thanks to high-quality medical services, there needs to be more investigation and research on senior citizens' sex life, Bae added.
Kim Sae-chul, professor of urology at Chung-Ang University, said elderly males lose self-confidence as their physical strength and sexual capability weaken. "However, healthy males can have a sex life even in their 80s," Kim said.
For elderly females, psychological factors and inconvenience due to menopause are the main reason for avoiding sex.
"This can be relieved by hormone therapy or using a lubricant," Kim Sook-hee, an obstetrician, said.
The city is planning on developing sex education programs and consulting for seniors.
"The research showed only 18 percent of the elderly have received any kind of sex education. We will enhance such programs at senior welfare centers," a city official said.