Knowledge and Beliefs of Older Australians about Sexuality and Health

Objective: To report on the relationships between a range of demographic and social variables of a sample of older Australians and their answers to six questions concerning sexuality and health in later life Method: A self‐completed questionnaire was returned by 844 randomly selected older persons. Two questions were included as indicators of older Australians' knowledge of the impact of health on sexuality in later life; two questions examined beliefs about the possible physical and psychological benefits of sexuality; and two questions examined older people's expectations of sexuality as people age Results: Regression analysis was performed to test for associations between sexual ‘awareness’ and gender, age, relationship status, marital status, number of sexual partners and spirituality. Responses were combined into what we have called a ‘Sexual Health Knowledge and Beliefs Index’ (SHKB Index). The results show that males and those currently in sexual relationships have significantly higher scores on this index. There were, however, significant differences for individual item scores by gender, age, being in a sexual relationship, and number of sexual partners Conclusions: The study discusses how the SHKB Index can be used to identify people who have poorer knowledge and less positive attitudes towards sexuality in later life so that education and services can be planned accordingly.